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y. 


By  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


FROM  THE   LAKES   OF   KILLARNEY 
TO   THE   GOLDEN   HORN. 

THE    FIRST    VOLUME   OF 

Dr.  Field's  Travels  Around  the  World. 

I  vol.  i2tno,  cloth,  uniform  with  this  volume,  $2.00. 
♦^*  Sent  postpaid,  on  receipt  0/  price,  by  the  Publishers, 

SCRIBNER,  ARMSTRONG  &  CO., 

743  AND  74s  Broadway,  New  York. 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  JAPAN. 


By  HENKY  M.  field,  D.D. 


NEW  YORK: 
SCEIBNER,  ARMSTRONG  <fe  CO. 

1877. 


COPYBIGHT  Bit 

SCBIBNER,  AEMSTRONG  &  00. 

1877. 


Trow's 

Printing  and  Bookbinding  Co., 

205-213  East  I'ith  St.y 

NEW  YORK, 


P5 


DAVID  DUDLEY,  STEPHEN  J.,  AND  CYRUS  W.  FIELD, 

ALL  THAT  ARE  LEFT  OK  A  LARGE  FAMILY, 

Qrt)i£  'Folumt  iz  ®cl>ttatell, 

IN  TOKEN  OF  THE  LOVE  OF  A   LIFETIME,    WHICH 
WILL  GROW  STRONGER  TO  THE  END. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcli  ive.org/details/fromegypttojapanOOfieliala 


CONTENTS. 

L  Cbossinq    thb  Meditbbbaneas—Albxandkia— Cairo — 

The  PrBAMiDS, 1 

IL  On  the  Nile, 15 

ILL  The  Temples  of  Egypt— Did  Moses  get  his  law  fbom 

THE  Egyptians? 28 

IV.  The  Egyptian  doctrine  op  a  future  life, 37 

V.  The  Religion  op  the  Prophet, 45 

VL  Modern  Egypt  and  the  Khedive, 63 

"VTL  Midnight  in  the  Heart  of  the  Great  Pyramid,     .    .  80 

VnL  Leaving  Egypt— The  Desert, 96 

IX.  On  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean, 106 

X.  Bombay— First  Impressions  of  India,       115 

XL  Travelling  in  India— Allahabad — The  Mela,     ...  131 

Xn.  Agra.    Visit  of  The  Prince  of  Wales — Palace  of  the 

Great  Mogul— The  Taj,       148 

XILL  Delhi— A    Mohammedan    Festival — Scenes    in    the 

Mutiny, 163 

XIV.  From  Delhi  to  Lahore, 173 

XV.  A  Week  in  the  Himalayas, 183 

XVL  The  Tragedy  or  Cawnporb, 210 

XVn.  The  Story  op  Lucknow,   .    .    , 328 

XVnL  The  English  Rule  in  India, 236 

XIX.  Missions  in  India— Do  Missionaries  do  any  good?     .  249 

XX.  Benares,  the  Holy  City  of  the  Hindoos,       ....  265 

XXL  Calcutta— Farewell  to  India, 280 

XXn.  Burmah— The  Malayan  Peninsula— Singapore,  .    .    .  293 

XXIII.  The  Island  op  Java ;  826 

XXIV.  Up  the  China  Seas— Hong  Kong  and  Canton,     ...  865 
XXV.  Three  Weeks  in  Japan, S:7 


This  volume  is  complete  in  itself,  though  it  is  the 
Second  Part  of  a  yo.urney  Round  the  World,  of  which 
the  First  Part  was  published  a  year  ago,  with  the  title 
**  From  the  Lakes  of  Killarney  to  the  Golden  Horn.'* 
The  volumes  are  uniform  in  style  and  naturally  go  to- 
gether, though  either  is  complete  without  the  other. 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  JAPAN. 


CHAPTER   I. 

CROSSING   THE   MEDITERRANEAN — ALEXANDRIA — CAIRO — 
THE   PYRAMIDS. 

On  the  Bosphorus  there  are  birds  which  the  Turks  call 
**  lost  souls,"  as  they  are  never  at  rest.  Tliey  are  always  on 
the  wing,  like  stormy  petrels,  flying  swift  and  low,  just 
skimming  the  waters,  yet  darting  like  arrows,  as  if  seeking 
for  something  which  they  could  not  find  on  land  or  sea. 
This  spirit  of  unrest  sometimes  enters  into  other  wanderera 
than  those  of  the  air.  One  feels  it  strongly  as  he  comes  to 
the  end  of  one  continent,  and  "casts  off""  for  another;  as 
he  leaves  the  firm,  familiar  ground,  and  sails  away  to  the 
distant  and  the  unknown. 

So  felt  a  couple  of  travellers  who  had  left  America  to  go 
around  the  world,  and  after  six  months  in  Europe,  were  now 
to  push  on  to  the  farthest  East.  It  was  an  autumn  afternoon 
near  the  close  of  the  year  1875,  that  they  left  Constantino- 
ple, and  sailed  down  the  Marmora,  and  through  the  Darda- 
nelles, between  the  Castles  of  Europe  and  Asia,  whose  very 
names  suggested  the  continents  that  they  were  leaving  behind, 
and  set  their  faces  towards  Africa. 

They  could  not  go  to  Palestine.     An  alarm  of  cholera  in 

Damascus  had  caused  a  cordon  sanitaire  to  be  drawn  along 

the  Syrian  coast ;  and  though  they  might  get  in,  they  could 

not  so  easily  get  away ;  or  would  be  detained  ten  days  in  a 

1 


2  CK0S8ING   THE   MEDITEEKANEAN. 

Lazaretto  before  they  could  pass  into  Egypt ;  and  so  thoy 
were  obliged  at  the  last  moment  to  turn  from  the  Holy  Land, 
and  sail  direct  for  Alexandria ;  touching,  however,  at  Mity- 
lene  and  Scio ;  and  passing  a  day  at  Smyrna  and  at  Syra. 
With  these  detentions  the  voyage  took  nearly  a  week,  almost 
as  long  as  to  cross  the  Atlantic, 

But  it  was  not  without  its  compensations.  Thei-e  was  a 
motley  company  in  the  cabin,  made  up  of  all  nations  and 
all  religions  :  English  and  Americans,  French  and  Gei-mans 
and  Russians,  Greeks  and  Turks,  Chiistians  and  Mohamme- 
dans. There  was  a  grand  old  Turk,  who  was  going  out  to  be 
a  judge  in  Mecca,  and  was  travelling  with  his  harem,  eight 
women,  who  were  carefully  screened  from  the  observation  of 
profane  eyes.  And  there  were  other  Mussulmans  of  rank, 
gentlemen  in  manners  and  education,  who  would  be  addressed 
as  Effendis  or  Beys,  or  perhaps  as  Pashas,  who  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  spread  their  small  Persian  carpets  in  the  cabin  or  on 
the  deck  at  any  hour,  and  kneel  and  prostrate  themselves, 
and  say  their  prayers. 

Besides  these,  the  whole  forward  part  of  the  ship  was 
packed  with  pilgrims  (there  were  four  hundred  of  them) 
going  to  Mecca :  Turks  in  white  turbans  and  baggy  trous- 
ers ;  and  Circassians  in  long  overcoats,  made  of  undressed 
sheepskins,  with  tall,  shaggy  hats,  like  the  bear-skin  shakos 
of  Scotch  grenadiers.  Some  of  them  had  their  belts  stuck 
thick  with  knives  and  pistols,  as  if  they  expected  to  have  to 
fight  their  way  to  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet.  Altogether  they 
were  not  an  attractive  set,  and  yet  one  could  not  view,  with- 
out a  certain  respect,  a  body  of  men  animated  by  a  strong 
religious  feeling  which  impelled  them  to  undertake  this  long 
pilgrimage  ;  it  requires  three  months  to  go  and  return.  Nor 
could  one  listen  quite  unmoved  as  at  different  hours  of  the 
day,  at  sunrise,  or  midday,  or  sunset,  the  muezzin  climbed  to 
the  upper  deck,  and  in  a  wailing  voice  called  the  hour  of 
prayer,  and  the  true  believers,  standing  up,  rank  on  rank. 


LANDING   IN  AFEICA.  3. 

turned  their  faces   towards   Mecca,  and  reverently  bowed 
themselves  and  worshipped. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  sixth  day  we  came  in  sight  of  a 
low-lying  coast,  with  not  a  hill  or  elevation  of  any  kind 
rising  above  the  dreary  waste,  the  sea  of  waters  breaking  on 
a  sea  of  sand.  The  sun  sinking  in  the  west  showed  the 
lighthouse  at  Alexandria,  but  as  the  channel  is  narrow  and 
intricate,  ships  are  not  allowed  to  enter  after  sunset ;  and  so 
we  lay  outside  all  night,  but  as  soon  as  the  morning  broke, 
steamed  up  and  entered  the  harbor.  Here  was  the  same 
scene  as  at  Constantinople — a  crowd  of  boats  around  the 
ship,  and  boatmen  shouting  and  yelling,  jumping  over  one 
another  in  their  eagerness  to  be  first,  climbing  on  board,  and 
rushing  on  every  unfortunate  traveller  as  if  they  would  tear 
him  to  pieces.  But  they  are  not  so  terrible  as  they  appear, 
and  so  it  always  comes  to  pass,  that  whether  "  on  boards  or 
broken  pieces  of  the  ship,"  all  come  safe  to  land. 

In  spite  of  this  wild  uproai',  it  was  not  without  a  strange 
feeling  of  interest  that  we  first  set  foot  in  Africa.  A  few 
days  before  we  had  touched  the  soil  of  Asia,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Bosphorus — the  oldest  of  the  continents,  the  cra- 
dle of  the  human  race.  And  now  we  were  in  Africa — in 
Egypt,  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs,  out  of  which  Moses  led  the 
Israelites  ;  the  land  of  the  Pyramids,  the  greatest  monuments 
of  ancient  civilization. 

As  soon  as  one  comes  on  shore,  he  perceives  that  he  is  in 
a  different  country.  The  climate  is  different,  the  aspects  of 
nature  are  different,  the  people  are  different,  the  very  animals 
are  different.  Caravans  of  camels  are  moving  slowly  through 
the  streets,  and  outside  of  the  city,  coming  up  to  its  very  walls, 
as  if  threatening  to  overwhelm  it,  is  the  "  great  and  terrible  * 
desert,  a  vast  and  billowy  plain,  whose  ever-drifting  sands 
woiild  speedily  bury  all  the  works  of  man,  if  they  were  not 
kept  back  from  destruction  by  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  which 
is  at  once  the  creator  and  preserver  of  Egypt. 


4  AT.EXANDRIA. 

Alexandria,  although  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great, 
whose  name  it  bears,  and  tlierefore  more  than  two  thousand 
years  old  —  and  although  in  its  monuments,  Cleopatra's 
Needle  and  Pompey's  Pillar,  it  carries  back  the  mind  to  the 
last  of  the  Ptolemies,  the  proud  daughter  of  kings,  and  to 
her  Roman  lovers  and  conquerors — has  yet  in  many  parts 
quite  a  modern  aspect,  and  is  almost  a  new  city.  It  has  felt, 
more  than  most  places  in  the  East,  the  influence  of  European 
civilization.  Commerce  is  returning  to  its  ancient  seats 
along  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  harbor  of  Alexandria  is 
filled  with  a  forest  of  ships,  that  reminds  one  of  New  York 
or  Liverpool. 

But  as  it  becomes  more  European,  it  is  less  Oriental ;  and 
though  more  prosperous,  is  less  picturesque  than  other  parts 
of  Egypt;  and  so,  after  a  couple  of  days,  we  left  for  Cairo, 
and  now  for  the  first  time  struck  the  Nile,  which  reminds  an 
American  traveller  of  the  Missouri,  or  the  lower  Mississippi. 
It  is  the  same  broad  stream  of  turbid,  yellow  waters,  flowijig 
between  low  banks.  This  is  the  Great  River  which  takes  its 
rise  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  beyond  the  equator,  at  a  point 
so  remote  that,  though  the  Valley  of  the  Nile  was  four 
thousand  years  ago  the  seat  of  the  greatest  empire  of  anti- 
quity, yet  to  this  day  the  source  of  the  river  is  the  )n-oblem 
of  geographers.  Foi'merly  it  was  a  three  days'  journey  from 
Alexandria  to  Cairo,  but  the  railroad  shortens  it  to  a  ride  of 
four  hours,  in  which  we  crossed  both  branches  of  the  Nile. 
Just  at  noon  we  came  in  sight  of  the  Pyramids,  and  in  half 
an  hour  were  driving  through  the  streets  of  the  capital  of 
Egypt. 

We  like  Cairo,  after  two  or  three  weeks,  much  better  than 
Constantinople.  It  has  another  climate  and  atmosphere ; 
and  is  altogether  a  gayer  and  brighter  city.  The  new 
quarter  occupied  by  foreigners  is  as  handsomely  built  as 
any  European  city.  The  streets  are  wide  and  well  paved, 
like  the  new  streets  and   boulevards  of  Paris.     We  are  at 


OAmo.  •  f> 

the  **  Grand  New  Hotel,"  fronting  on  the  Ezbekieh  gardens, 
a  large  square,  filled  with  trees,  with  kiosks  for  music, 
and  other  entertainments.  Our  windows  open  on  a  broad 
balcony,  from  which  we  can  hear  the  band  playing  every 
afternoon,  while  around  us  is  the  city,  with  its  domes  and 
minarets  and  palm  trees. 

The  great  charm  of  Egypt  is  the  climate.  It  is  truly  the 
Land  of  the  Sun.  We  landed  on  the  first  day  of  December, 
but  we  cannot  realize  that  this  is  winter.  The  papers  tell 
us  that  it  is  very  cold  in  New  York,  and  that  the  Hudson 
river  is  frozen  over ;  but  here  every  thing  is  in  bloom,  as  in 
raid-summer,  and  I  wear  a  straw  hat  to  protect  me  from  the 
heat  of  the  sun.  But  it  is  not  merely  the  warmth,  but  the 
exquisite  purity  of  the  atmosphere,  that  makes  it  so  deli- 
cious. The  great  deserts  on  both  sides  drink  up  every  drop 
of  moisture,  and  every  particle  of  miasm  that  is  exhaled 
from  the  decaying  vegetation  of  the  Valley  of  the  Nile,  and 
send  back  into  these  streets  the  very  air  of  Paradise. 

Having  thus  the  skies  of  Italy,  and  a  much  more  balmy 
air,  it  is  not  strange  that  Egypt  attracts  travellers  from 
France,  and  England,  and  America.  It  is  becoming  more 
and  more  a  resort  not  only  for  invalids,  but  for  that  wealthy 
class  who  float  about  the  world  to  find  the  place  where  they 
can  pass  existence  with  the  most  of  languid  ease.  Many 
come  here  to  escape  the  European  winters,  and  to  enjoy  the 
delicious  climate,  and  they  are  from  so  many  countries,  that 
Cairo  has  become  a  cosmojjolitan  city.  As  it  is  on  the  road 
to  India,  it  is  continually  visited  by  English  officers  and 
civilians,  going  or  returning.  Of  late  years  it  has  become  a 
resort  also  for  Americans.  A  number  of  our  army  officers 
have  taken  service  under  the  Khedive,  who  rendezvous 
chiefly  at  this  New  Hotel,  so  that  with  the  travellers  of  the 
same  country,  we  can  talk  across  the  table  of  American 
affairs,  as  if  we  were  at  Newport  or  Saratoga.  Owing  to 
the  influx  of  so  many  foreigners,  this  Hotel  and    "  Shep- 


6  AMERICANS   IN   CAIRO. 

beard's  "  seem  like  small  colonies  of  Europeans.  Hearing 
only  English,  or  French,  or  German,  one  might  believe  him- 
self at  one  of  the  great  hotels  in  Switzerland,  or  on  the 
Rhine.  A  stranger  who  wishes  to  pass  a  winter  in  Cairo, 
need  not  die  of  ennui  for  want  of  the  society  of  his  country- 
men. 

Besides  these  officers  in  the  ai-my,  the  only  Americans 
here  in  official  positions,  are  the  Consul  General  Beardsley, 
and  Judge  Batcheller,  who  was  appointed  by  our  Govern- 
ment to  represent  the  United  States  in  the  Mixed  Court 
lately  established  in  Egypt.  Both  these  gentlemen  are  very 
couiteous  to  their  countrymen,  while  giving  full  attention 
to  their  duties.  As  we  have  sometimes  had  abroad  con- 
suls and  ministers  of  whom  we  could  not  be  proud,  it  is 
something  to  be  able  to  say,  that  those  here  now  in  official 
position  are  men  of  whom  we  need  not  be  ashamed  as  re- 
presentatives of  our  country. 

Another  household  which  should  not  be  overlooked,  since 
it  gives  an  American  a  home  feeling  in  Cairo,  is  that  of  the 
American  Mission.  Tliis  has  been  here  some  years,  and  so 
won  the  favor  of  the  government,  that  the  former  Viceroy 
gave  it  a  site  for  its  schools,  which  proved  so  valuable  that 
the  present  Khedive  has  recently  bought  it  back,  by  giving 
a  new  site  and  £7000  into  the  bargain.  The  new  location  is 
one  of  the  best  in  Cairo,  near  the  Ezbekieh  square,  and  here 
■with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale,  and  other  funds  contributed 
for  the  object,  the  Mission  is  erecting  one  of  the  finest  build- 
ings for  such  purposes  in  the  East,  where  their  chapel  and 
schools,  in  which  there  are  now  some  five  hundred  children, 
will  be  under  one  roof. 

This  Mission  School  some  years  ago  was  the  scene  of  a 
romantic  incident.  An  Indian  prince,  then  living  in  Eng- 
land, was  on  his  way  to  India,  with  the  body  of  his  mother, 
who  had  died  far  from  her  country,  but  with  the  prejudices 
of  a  Hindoo  strong  in  death,  wished  her  body  to  be  taken 


THE   AMERICAN   MISSION.  J 

back  to  the  land  of  her  birth.  While  passing  through 
Cairo,  he  paid  a  visit  to  the  American  Mission,  and  was 
struck  with  the  face  of  a  young  pupil  in  the  girls'  school, 
and  after  due  inquiry  proposed  to  the  missionaries  to  take 
her  as  his  wife.  They  gave  theii-  consent,  and  on  his  return 
they  were  married,  and  he  took  her  with  him  to  England. 
This  was  the  Maharajah  Dhuleep  Sing,  a  son  of  old  Runjeet 
Sing,  the  Lion  of  Laliore,  who  raised  up  a  race  of  warriors, 
that  after  his  death  fought  England,  and  whose  country,  the 
Punjaub,  the  English  annexed  to  their  Indian  dominions; 
and  here,  as  in  other  cases,  removed  a  pretender  out  of  the 
way  by  settling  a  large  pension  on  the  heir  to  the  throne. 
Thus  the  Maharajah  came  into  the  possession  of  a  large 
revenue  from  the  British  government,  amounting,  I  am  told, 
to  some  £30,000  a  year.  Having  been  from  his  childhood 
under  English  pu})ilage,  he  lias  been  brought  up  as  a  Christian, 
and  finds  it  to  his  taste  to  reside  in  England,  where  he  is 
able  to  live  in  sjjlendor,  and  is  a  great  favorite  at  court. 
His  choice  of  a  wife  proved  a  most  happy  one,  as  the  modest 
young  pupil  of  Cairo  introduced  into  his  English  home, 
with  the  natural  grace  of  her  race,  for  she  is  partly  of  Arab 
descent,  the  culture  and  refinement  learned  in  a  Mission 
school.  Nor  does  he  forget  what  he  owes  to  the  care  of  those 
who  watched  over  her  in  her  childhood,  but  sends  a  thousand 
pounds  every  year  to  the  school  in  gi'ateful  acknowledgment 
of  the  best  possible  gift  it  could  make  to  him,  that  of  a  noble 
Cliristian  wife. 

Besides  tliis  foreign  society,  there  is  also  a  resident  society 
which,  to  those  who  can  be  introduced  to  it,  is  very  attrac- 
tive. The  government  of  the  Khedive  has  brought  into  his 
service  some  men  who  wo\ild  be  distinguished  in  any  Euro- 
pean court  or  capital.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  is 
Nubar  Pasha,  long  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

Judge  Batcheller  kindly  took  me  to  the  house  of  the  old 
statesman,  who  received  us  cordially.     On  hearing  that  I 


8  NUBAR  PASHA. 

was  on  my  way  around  the  world,  he  exclaimed,  "  Ah,  you 
Americans  !  You  are  true  Bedouins !  "  I  asked  him  what 
was  the  best  guide-book  to  Egypt  ?  He  answered  instantly, 
"  The  Bible."  It  was  delightful  to  see  his  enthusiasm  for 
Egypt,  although  he  is  not  an  Egy})tian.  He  is  not  an  Arab, 
nor  a  Turk,  nor  even  a  Mussulman ;  but  an  Armenian  by 
birth  and  by  religion.  His  uncle,  ISTubar  Pasha,  came  over 
with  Mehemet  Ali,  whose  prime  minister  he  was  for  forty 
years ;  and  his  nephew,  who  inherits  his  name,  inherits  also 
the  traditions  of  that  gx-eat  reign.  Though  born  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Mediterranean,  he  is  in  heart  an  Egyptian.  He 
loves  the  country  of  his  adoption,  and  all  his  thoughts  and 
his  political  ambition  are  for  its  greatness  and  piosperity. 
He  has  lived  here  so  long  that  he  sometimes  speaks  of  him- 
self playfully  as  "  one  of  the  antiquities  of  Egypt."  "  Of 
the  first  dynasty?"  we  ask.  "Yes,  of  the  time  of  Menes." 
I  do  not  believe  he  could  exist  anywhere  else.  He  loves 
not  only  the  climate,  but  even  the  scenery  of  Egypt,  which 
is  more  charming  to  his  eyes  than  the  hills  and  vales  of  Scot- 
land or  the  mountains  of  Switzerland.  "  But  you  must 
admit,"  I  said,  "that  it  has  a  great  monotony."  "  No,"  he 
replied,  "  in  Lombardy  there  is  monotony ;  but  Egypt  is  im- 
mensity, infinity,  eternity.  The  features  of  the  landscape 
may  be  the  same,  but  the  eye  never  wearies."  Surely  his 
eye  never  does,  for  it  is  touched  with  a  poetic  vision  ;  he 
sees  more  than  meets  the  common  eye ;  every  passing  cloud 
changes  the  lights  and  shadows  ;  and  to  him  there  is  more  of 
beauty  in  the  siinset  flashing  through  the  palm  groves,  as  the 
leaves  are  gently  stirred  by  the  evening  wind,  than  in  all  the 
luxuriance  of  tropical  forests.  Even  if  we  did  not  quite 
share  his  enthusiasm,  we  could  not  but  be  charmed  by  tlie 
pictures  which  were  floating  before  his  mind's  eye,  and  by 
the  eloquence  of  his  description.  As  he  loves  the  country, 
so  he  loves  the  people  of  Egypt.  Poor  and  hel])]ess  as  they 
are,  they  have  won  upon  his  affection ;  he  says  "  they  are 


STREET   SCENES   IN   CAIKO.  9 

but  children ; "  but  if  they  have  the  weakness  of  children, 
they  have  also  their  simplicity  and  trustfulness ;  and  I  could 
see  that  his  great  ambition  was  to  break  up  that  system  of 
forced  labor  which  crushes  them  to  the  earth,  and  to  secure 
to  them  at  least  some  degree  of  liberty  and  of  justice. 

"With  all  its  newness  and  freshness  this  city  retains  its 
Oriental  character.  Indeed  Grand  Cairo  is  said  to  be  the 
most  Oriental  of  cities  except  Damascus.  It  has  four  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants,  and  in  its  ancient  portions  has 
all  the  peculiar  features  of  the  East.  Not  only  is  the 
city  different  from  Constantinople,  but  the  people  are 
diflferent ;  they  are  another  race,  and  speak  another  lan- 
giiage.  Turks  and  Arabs  are  as  different  as  Englishmen 
and  Frenchmen. 

We  are  entertained  eveiy  time  that  we  go  out  of  doors, 
"with  the  animated  and  picturesque  life  of  the  streets.  There 
are  all  races  and  all  costumes,  and  all  modes  of  locomotion. 
There  are  fine  horses  and  carriages.  I  feel  like  Joseph  riding 
in  Pharaoh's  chariot,  when  we  take  a  carriage  to  ride  out  to 
Shoobra,  one  of  the  palaces  of  the  Khedive,  with  syces 
di-essed  in  white  running  before  to  herald  our  i-oyal  progiess, 
and  shout  to  the  people  to  get  out  of  our  way.  But  one 
who  prefers  a  more  Oriental  mode  of  riding,  can  mount  a 
camel,  or  stoop  to  a  donkey,  for  the  latter  are  the  smallest 
creatures  that  ever  walked  under  the  legs  of  a  man,  and  if 
the  rider  be  very  tall,  he  will  need  to  hold  up  his  feet  to 
keep  them  from  dangling  on  the  ground.  Yet  they  are  hardy 
little  creatures,  and  have  a  peculiar  amble  which  they  keep 
up  all  day.  They  are  very  useful  for  riding,  especially  in 
some  parts  of  the  city  where  the  streets  are  too  narrow  to 
allow  a  carriage  to  pass. 

The  donkey-men  are  very  sharp,  Uke  their  tribe  in  all  parts 
of  the  world.  The  Arabs  have  a  great  deal  of  natural  wit, 
which  might  almost  entitle  them  to  be  called  the  Irish  of  the 
East.     They  have  picked  up  a  few  words  of  English,  and  it 


10  THE   PYRAMIDS. 

is  amusing  to  hear  them  say,  with  a  most  peculiar  accent, 
"All  right,"  "Very  good,"  "Go  ahead."  They  seem  to 
know  everybody,  and  soon  find  out  who  are  their  best  custom- 
ers. I  cannot  go  down  the  steps  without  a  dozen  rushing 
toward  me,  calling  out  "  Doctor,  want  a  donkey  ?  "  One  of 
them  took  me  on  my  weak  side  the  first  day  by  saying  that 
the  name  of  his  animal  was  "  Yankee  Doodle,"  and  so  I  have 
patronized  that  donkey  ever  since,  and  a  tough  little  beast 
he  is,  scuddiiig  away  with  me  on  his  back  at  a  great  rate. 
His  owner,  a  tine  looking  Arab,  dressed  in  a  loose  blue  gown 
and  snowy  turban,  runs  barefooted  behind  him^  to  prick 
him  up,  if  he  lags  in  his  speed,  or  if  pei'chance  he  goes  too 
fast,  to  seize  him  by  the  tail,  and  check  his  impetuosity. 
We  present  a  ludicrous  spectacle  when  thus  mounted,  setting 
out  for  the  bazaars,  where  our  experience  of  Constantinople 
is  repeated. 

Of  course  the  greatest  sight  around  Cairo  is  the  Pyra- 
mids. It  is  an  event  in  one's  life  to  see  these  grandest 
monuments  of  antiquity.  The  excursion  is  now  very 
easy.  They  are  eight  miles  from  Cairo,  and  it  was  formerly 
a  hard  day's  journey  to  go  there  and  back,  as  one  could  only 
ride  on  a  donkey  or  a  camel,  and  had  to  cross  the  river  in 
boa,ts ;  and  the  country  was  often  inundated,  so  that  one  had 
to  go  miles  around.  But  the  Khedive,  who  does  everything 
here,  has  changed  all  that.  He  has  built  an  iron  bridge  over 
the  Nile,  and  a  broad  road,  raised  above  the  height  of  the 
annual  inundations,  so  as  never  to  be  overflowed,  and  lined 
with  trees,  the  rapid-growing  acacia,  so  that  one  may  drive 
through  a  shaded  avenue  the  whole  way.  A  shower  which 
had  fallen  the  night  before  we  went  (a  very  rare  thing  in 
Egypt  at  this  season)  had  laid  the  dust  and  cooled  the  air, 
so  that  the  day  was  perfect,  and  we  drove  in  a  carriage  in 
an  hour  and  a  half  from  our  hotel  to  the  foot  of  the  Pyra- 
mids. The  two  largest  of  these  are  in  sight  as  soon  as  one 
crosses  the  Nile,  but  though  six  miles  distant  they  seem  quite 


THE   PTBAMID8.  11 

near.  Yet  at  first,  and  even  when  close  to  them,  they  hardly 
impress  the  beholder  with  their  real  greatness.  This  is  ow- 
ing to  their  pyramidal  form,  which,  rising  before  the  eye  like 
the  slope  of  a  hill,  does  not  strike  the  senses  or  the  imagina- 
tion as  much  as  smaller  masses  which  rise  perpendicularly. 
One  can  hardly  realize  that  the  Pyramid  of  Cheops  is  the 
largest  structure  in  the  world — the  largest  probably  ever 
reared  by  human  hands.  But  as  it  slopes  to  the  top,  it  does 
not  present  its  full  j)roportions  to  the  eye,  nor  impress  one 
so  much  as  some  of  the  Greek  temples  with  their  perpen- 
dicular columns,  or  the  Gothic  churches  with  their  lofty 
arches,  and  still  loftier  towers,  soaring  to  heaven.  Yet  the 
Great  Pyi'amid  is  higher  than  them  all,  higher  even  than  the' 
spire  of  the  Cathedral  at  Strasburg;  while  in  the  surface  of 
ground  covered,  the  most  spacioiis  of  them,  even  St.  Peter's 
at  Home,  seems  small  in  comparison.  It  covers  eleven  acres, 
a  space  nearly  as  lai-ge  as  the  Washington  Parade  Ground  in 
New  York ;  and  is  said  by  Herodotus  to  have  taken  a  hundred 
thousand  men  twenty  years  to  build  it.  Pliny  agrees  in  the 
length  of  time,  but  says  the  number  of  workmen  employed 
was  over  three  hundred  thousand  ! 

But  mere  figures  do  not  give  the  best  impression  of 
height ;  the  only  way  to  judge  of  the  Great  Pyramid  is  to 
see  it  and  to  ascend  it.  One  can  go  to  the  top  by  steps,  but 
as  these  steps  are  blocks  of  stone,  many  of«  which  are  four 
feet  high,  it  is  not  quite  like  walking  up  stairs.  One  could 
hardly  get  up  at  all  but  with  the  help  of  the  Arabs,  who 
swarm  on  the  ground,  and  make  a  living  by  selling  their  ser- 
vices. Four  of  them  set  upon  me,  seizing  me  by  the  hands, 
and  dragging  me  forward,  and  with  pulling  and  pushing  and 
"  boosting,"  urged  on  by  my  own  impatience — for  I  would  not 
let  them  rest  a  moment — in  ten  minutes  we  were  at  the  top, 
which  they  thought  a  great  achievement,  and  rubbed  down 
my  legs,  as  a  groom  rubs  down  a  horse  after  a  race,  and 
clapped  me  on  the  back,  and  shouted  "  All  right,"  *'  Very 


12  THE   PTBAlVnDS. 

good."  I  felt  a  little  pride  in  being  the  first  of  our  party  on 
the  top,  and  the  last  to  leave  it. 

These  Arab  guides  are  at  once  very  troublesome  and  very 
necessary.  One  cannot  get  along  without  them,  and  yet 
they  are  so  importunate  in  their  demands  for  backsheesh  that 
they  become  a  nuisance.  They  are  nominally  \;nder  the 
orders  of  a  Sheik,  who  charges  two  English  shillings  for 
every  traveller  who  is  assisted  to  the  top,  but  that  does  not 
relieve  one  from  constant  appeals  going  up  and  down.  I 
found  it  the  easiest  way  to  get  rid  of  them  to  give  somewhat 
freely,  and  thus  paid  three  or  four  times  the  prescribed  charge 
before  I  got  to  the  bottom.  No  doubt  I  gave  far  too  much, 
for  they  immediately  quoted  me  to  the  rest  of  the  party,  and 
held  me  up  as  a  shining  example.  I  am  afraid  I  demoralized 
the  whole  tribe,  for  some  friends  who  went  the  next  day  were 
told  of  an  American  who  had  been  there  the  day  before,  who 
had  given  "  beautiful  backsheesh."  The  cunning  fellows, 
finding  I  was  an  eas}"^  subject,  followed  me  from  one  place  to 
another,  and  gave  me  no  peace  even  when  wandering  among 
the  tombs,  or  when  taking  our  lunch  in  the  Temple  of  the 
Sphinx,  but  at  every  step  clamored  for  more ;  and  when  I 
had  given  them  a  dozen  times,  an  impudent  rascal  came  up 
even  to  the  carriage,  as  we  were  ready  to  drive  away,  and 
said  that  two  or  three  shillings  more  would  "  make  all  se- 
rene !  " — a  phra«e  which  he  had  caught  from  some  strolling 
American,  and  which  he  turns  to  good  account. 

But  one  would  gladly  give  any  sum  to  get  rid  of  petty  an- 
noyances, and  to  be  able  to  look  around  him  imdisturbed. 
Here  we  are  at  last  on  the  very  summit  of  the  Great  Pyramid, 
and  begin  to  realize  its  immensity.  Below  us  men  look  like 
mice  creeping  about,  and  the  tops  of  trees  in  the  long  ave- 
nue show  no  larger  than  hothouse  plants.  The  eye  ranges 
over  the  valley  of  the  Nile  for  many  miles — a  carpet  of  the 
richest  green,  amid  which  groups  of  palms  rise  like  islands 
in  a  sea.     To  the  east  beyond  the  Nile  is  Cairo,  its  domes 


THE   PYRAMIDS.  18 

and  minarets  standing  out  against  the  background  of  the 
Mokattam  hills,  while  to  the  west  stretches  far  away  the 
Libyan  desert. 

Overlooking  this  broad  landscape,  one  can  trace  distinctly 
the  line  of  the  overflow  of  the  Nile.  Wherever  the  waters 
come,  there  is  greenness  and  fertility ;  at  the  point  where 
they  cease,  there  is  barrenness  and  desolation.  It  is  a  per- 
petual struggle  between  the  waters  and  the  sands,  like  that 
which  is  always  going  on  in  human  history  between  barbar- 
ism and  civilization. 

In  the  Pyramids  the  two  things  which  impress  us  most  are 
their  vast  size  and  their  age.  As  we  stand  on  the  top,  and 
look  down  the  long  flight  of  steps  which  leads  to  the  valley 
below,  we  find  that  we  are  on  the  crest  of  a  mountain  of 
stone.  Some  idea  of  the  enormous  mass  imbedded  in  the 
Great  Pyramid  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  ascertained 
by  a  careful  computation  (estimating  its  weight  at  seven  mil- 
lions of  tons,  and  considering  it  a  solid  mass,  its  chambers 
and  passages  being  as  far  as  discovered  but  tj uVo^*^^  °^  ^^® 
whole),  that  these  blocks  of  stone,  placed  end  to  end,  would 
make  a  wall  a  foot  and  a  half  broad,  and  ten  feet  high  around 
England,  a  distance  of  883  miles — a  ■jv^all  that  would  shut  in 
the  island  up  to  the  Scottish  border. 

And  the  Pyramids  are  not  only  the  greatest,  but  the 
oldest  monuments  of  the  human  race,  the  "most  venerable 
structures  ever  reared  by  the  hand  (^f  man.  They  are  far 
older  than  any  of  the  monuments  of  Roman  or  Grecian  anti- 
quity. They  were  a  marvel  and  a  mystery  then  as  much  as 
they  are  to-day.  How  much  older  cannot  be  said  with  cer- 
tainty. Authorities  are  not  fully  agi-eed,  but  the  general  be- 
lief among  the  later  chronologists  is  that  the  Great  Pyramid 
was  built  about  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy 
years  before  the  time  of  Christ,  and  the  next  in  size  a  cen- 
tury later.  Thus  both  have  been  standing  about  four  thou- 
sand years.     Napoleon  was  right  therefore  when  he  said  to 


14  THE   PYKAMroS. 

his  soldiei'S  before  the  battle  fought  with  the  Mamelukes 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyramids,  "  From  those  heights 
forty  centuries  behold  you."  This  disposes  of  the  idea  which 
some  have  entertained,  that  they  were  built  by  the  children 
of  Israel  when  they  were  in  Egypt ;  for  accoi'ding  to  this 
they  were  erected  two  hundred  years  before  even  tlie  time 
of  Abraham.  Jacob  saw  them  when  he  came  down  into 
Egypt  to  buy  corn  ;  and  Joseph  showed  tliem  to  his  brethren. 
The  subject  Hebrews  looked  up  to  them  in  the  days  of  their 
bondage.  Moses  saw  them  when  he  was  brought  up  in  the 
court  of  Pharaoh,  and  they  disappeared  from  the  view  of  the 
Israelites  only  when  they  fled  to  the  Red  Sea.  They  had 
been  standing  a  thousand  years  when  Homer  sang  of  the 
siege  of  Troy  ;  and  here  came  Herodotus  the  fatlier  of  history, 
four  hundred  years  before  Christ,  and  gazed  with  wonder, 
and  wrote  about  them  as  the  most  venerable  monuments  of 
antiquity,  with  the  same  curious  interest  as  Rawlinson  does 
to-day.  So  they  have  been  standing  century  after  century, 
while  the  generations  of  men  have  been  flowing  past,  like  the 
waters  of  the  Nile. 

We  visited  the  Great  Pyramid  again  on  our  return  from 
Upper  Egypt,  and  explored  the  interior,  but  reserve  the 
description  to  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 


ON    THE    NILE. 


At  last  we  are  on  the  Nile,  floating  as  in  a  dream,  in  the 
finest  climate  in  the  world,  amid  the  monuments  and  memo- 
ries of  thousands  of  years.  Anything  more  delightful  than 
this  climate  for  winter  cannot  be  imagined.  The  weather  is 
always  the  same.  The  sky  is  always  blue,  and  we  are  bathed 
in  a  soft,  delicious  atmosphere.  In  short,  we  seem  to  have 
come,  like  the  Lotus-eaters,  to  "  a  land  where  it  is  always 
afternoon."  In  such  an  air  and  such  a  mood,  we  left  Cairo 
to  make  the  voyage  to  which  we  had  been  looking  forward 
as  an  event  in  our  lives. 

To  travellers  who  desire  to  visit  Egypt,  and  to  see  its 
principal  monuments,  without  taking  more  time  than  they 
have  at  command,  it  is  a  great  advantage  that  there  is  now  a 
line  of  steamers  on  the  Nile.  The  boats  belong  to  the  Khe- 
dive, but  are  managed  by  Cook  &  Son,  of  London,  the  well- 
known  conductors  of  excursions  in  Europe  and  the  East. 
They  leave  Cairo  every  fortnight,  and  make  the  trip  to  the 
First  Cataract  and  back  in  twenty  days,  thus  comprising  the 
chief  objects  of  interest  within  a  limited  time.  Formerly 
there  was  no  way  to  go  up  the  Nile  except  by  chartering  a 
boat,  with  a  captain  and  crew  for  the  voyage.  This  mode  of 
travel  had  many  charms.  The  kind  of  boat — called  a  daha- 
beeah — was  well  fitted  for  the  purpose,  with  a  cabin  large 
enough  for  a  single  family,  or  a  very  small  party,  and  an  up- 
per deck  covered  with  awnings ;  and  as  it  spread  its  three- 
cornered  lateen  sail  to  the  wind,  it  presented  a  pretty  and 
picturesque  object,  and  the  traveller  floated  along  at  his  own 


16  ON   THE   NILE. 

sweet  will.  This  had  only  the  drawback  of  taking  a  whole 
winter.  But  to  leisurely  tourists,  who  like  to  do  everything 
thoroughly,  and  so  take  but  one  country  in  a  year;  or 
learned  Egyptologists,  who  wish,  in  the  intervals  of  seeing 
monuments,  to  make  a  special  study  of  the  history  of  Egypt ; 
or  invalids,  who  desire  only  to  escape  the  damps  and  fogs  of 
Britain,  or  the  bitter  cold  of  the  Northern  States  of  America — 
nothing  can  be  imagined  more  delightful.  There  is  a  class 
of  overworked  men  for  whom  no  medicine  could  be  pre- 
scribed more  effectual  than  a  winter  idled  away  in  this  sooth- 
ing, blissful  rest.  Nowhere  in  the  woi'ld  can  one  obtain 
more  of  the  dolce  far  niente,  than  thus  floating  slowly  and 
dreamily  on  the  Nile.  But  for  those  of  us  who  are  wander- 
ing over  all  the  earth,  crossing  all  the  lands  and  seas  in  the 
round  world,  this  slow  voyaging  will  not  answer. 

Nor  is  it  necessary.  Oiie  can  see  Egypt — not  of  course 
minutely,  but  sufficiently  to  get  a  general  impression  of  the 
country — in  a  much  less  time.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
this  is  not  like  other  countries  which  lie  four-square,  pre- 
senting an  almost  equal  length  and  breadth,  but  in  shape  is 
a  mere  line  upon  the  map,  being  a  hundred  times  as  long  as 
it  is  broad.  To  be  exact,  Egypt  from  the  apex  of  the  Delta 
— that  is  from  Cairo — to  the  First  Cataract,  nearly  six  hun- 
dred miles,  is  all  enclosed  in  a. valley,  which,  on  an  average, 
is  only  six  miles  wide,  the  whole  of  which  may  be  seen  from 
the  deck  of  a  steamer,  while  excursions  are  made  from  day 
to  day  to  the  temples  and  ruins.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  one  sees  more  of  these  ruins  on  a  boat  because  he  is  so 
much  longer  about  it,  when  the  extra  time  consumed  is  not 
spent  at  Dendei-ah  or  Thebes,  but  floating  lazily  along  with 
a  light  wind,  or  if  the  wind  be  adverse,  tied  up  to  a  bank  to 
await  a  change.  In  a  steamer  the  whole  excursion  is  well 
divided,  ample  time  being  allowed  to  visit  every  point  of  in- 
terest, as  at  Thebes,  where  the  boat  stops  three  days.  As 
soon  as  one  point  is  done,  it  moves  on  to  another.       In  this 


PTBAMroS    OF   8AKKARA.  '  l7 

way  no  time  is  lost,  and  one  can  see  as  much  in  three  weeks 
as  in  a  dahabeeah  in  three  months. 

Our  boat  carried  twenty- seven  passengers,  of  whom  more 
than  half  were  Americans,  forming  a  most  agreeable  company. 
All  on  deck,  we  watched  with  interest  the  receding  shores, 
as  we  sailed  past  the  island  of  Rhoda,  where,  according  to 
tradition,  the  infant  Moses  was  found  in  the  bulrushes;  and 
where  the  Nilometer,  a  pillar  planted  in  the  water  ages  ago, 
still  marks  the  annual  risings  and  fallings  of  the  great  river 
of  Egypt.  The  Pyramids  stood  out  clear  against  the  western 
sky.  That  evening  we  enjoyed  the  first  of  a  series  of  glori- 
ous sunsets  on  the  Nile,  Our  first  sail  was  very  short — only 
to  Sakkara,  a  few  miles  above  Cairo,  where  we  lay  to  for  the 
night,  the  boat  being  tied  up  to  the  bank,  in  the  style  of  a 
steamer  on  the  Mississippi, 

Early  the  next  morning  our  whole  company  hastened 
ashore,  where  a  large  array  of  donkeys  was  waiting  to  re- 
ceive us.  These  had  been  sent  up  from  Cairo  the  night  be- 
fore. My  faithful  attendant  was  there  with  "  Yankee  Doo- 
dle," and  claimed  me  as  his  special  charge.  We  were  soon 
mounted  and  pricking  over  what  we  should  call  "  bottom 
lands  "  in  the  valleys  of  our  Western  rivers,  the  wide  plain 
being  relieved  only  by  the  palm  groves,  and  rode  through  an 
Arab  village,  where  we  were  pursued  by  a  rabble  rout  of 
ragged  children.  The  dogs  barked,  the  donkeys  brayed,  and 
the  children  ran.  Followed  by  such  a  retinue,  we  approached 
the  Pyramids  of  Sakkara,  which  stand  on  the  same  plateau 
as  those  of  Ghizeh,  and  are  supposed  to  be  even  older  in 
date.  Thoiigh  none  of  them  are  equal  to  the  Great  Pyramid, 
they  belong  to  the  same  order  of  Cyclopean  architecture,  and 
are  the  mighty  monuments  of  an  age  when  there  were  giants 
in  the  earth. 

There  is  a  greater  wonder  still  in  the  Tombs  of  the  Sa- 
cred Bulls,  which  were  long  buried  beneath  the  sands  of  the 
desert,  but  have  been  brought  to  light  by  a  modern  exj)lorer, 


18  '  MEMPHIS. 

but  which  I  will  not  describe  here,  as  I  shall  speak  of  them 
again  in  illustration  of  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Egyptians. 

Near  the  Pyramids  of  Sakkara  is  the  site  of  Memphis,  the 
capital  of  ancient  Egypt,  of  whose  magnificence  we  have  the 
most  authentic  historic  accounts,  but  of  which  hardly  a  trace 
remains.  We  galloped  our  donkeys  a  long  distance  that  we 
might  pass  over  the  spot  where  it  stood,  but  found  only  great 
mounds  of  earth,  with  here  and  there  a  few  scattered  blocks 
of  granite,  turned  up  from  the  soil,  to  tell  of  the  massive 
structures  that  are  buried  beneath.  The  chief  relic  of  its 
former  glory  is  a  statue  of  Rameses  the  Great,  one  of  the 
most  famous  of  the  long  line  of  the  Pharaohs— a  statue  which 
was  grand  enough  to  be  worthy  of  a  god — being  some  fifty 
feet  high,  but  which  now  lies  stretched  ui^on  the  eai'th,  with  its 
face  downward,  all  its  fine  proportions  completely  buried  in 
a  little  pond — or  rather  puddle — of  dirty  water  !  At  certain 
seasons  of  the  year,  when  the  Nile  subsides,  the  features  are 
exposed,  and  one  may  look  upon  a  countenance  "whose  bend 
once  did  awe  the  world ; "  but  at  present,  seeing  only  the 
back,  and  that  broken,  it  has  no  appearance  or  shape  of  any- 
thing, and  might  be  a  king,  or  queen,  or  crocodile.  What  a 
bitter  satire  is  it  on  all  human  pride,  that  this  mighty  king 
and  conqueror,  the  Napoleon  of  his  day — who  made  nations 
tremble — now  lies  prone  on  the  earth,  his  imperial  front 
buried  in  the  slime  and  ooze  of  the  Nile  !  That  solitary  stone 
is  all  that  is  left  of  a  city  of  temples  and  palaces,  which  are 
here  entombed,  and  where  now  groves  of  palms  wave  their 
tasselled  plumes,  like  weeping  willows  over  the  sepulchre  of 
departed  greatness. 

Our  next  excursion  was  to  the  remains  of  a  very  remote 
antiquity  on  the  other  side  of  the  Nile — the  Rock-Tombs  of 
Beni-Hassan — immense  caverns  cut  in  the  side  of  a  mountain, 
in  which  were  buried  the  great  ones  of  Egy])t  four  thousand 
years  ago.  Many  of  them  are  inscribed  with  hieroglyphics, 
and  decorated  with  frescoes  and  bas-reliefs,  in   which  we 


THE   NAKROW   VALLEY.  19 

recognize  not  only  the  appearance  of  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
bnt  even  of  the  animals  which  were  familiar  in  that  day, 
such  as  the  lion,  the  jackal,  and  the  gazelle,  and  more  fre- 
quently the  beasts  of  burden — bulls  and  donkeys ;  but  in  none 
do  we  discover  the  horse,  nor,  what  is  perhaps  even  more 
remarkable  in  a  country  surrounded  by  deserts — the  camel. 

In  the  King's  tomb,  or  sepulchral  chamber,  a  room  some 
forty  feet  square,  hollowed  out  of  the  solid  rock,  the  vaulted 
roof  is  supported  by  Doric  pillars,  which  shows  that  the 
Greeks  obtained  many  of  their  ideas  of  architecture  in 
Egypt,  as  well  as  of  philosophy  and  religion. 

As  we  continue  our  course  up  the  river,  we  observe  more 
closely  the  features  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  It  is  very 
nai'row  and  is  abruptly  boiinded  by  barren  and  ragged  moun- 
tains. Between  these  barriers  the  river  winds  like  a  serpent 
from  side  to  side,  now  to  the  east,  and  now  to  the  west, 
but  inclining  more  to  the  range  of  Eastern  or  Arabian  hills, 
leaving  the  greater  bi-eadth  of  fertility  on  the  western  bank. 
Here  is  the  larger  number  of  villages ;  here  is  the  rail- 
road which  the  Khedive  has  built  along  the  valley,  beside 
which  runs  the  long  line  of  telegraph  poles,  that  sign  of 
civilization,  keeping  pace  with  the  iron  track,  and  passing 
beyond  it,caiTyiug  the  electric  cord  to  the  upper  Nile,  to  Nubia 
and  Soudan.  The  Khedive,  with  that  enterj>rise  which  marks 
his  administration,  has  endeavored  to  turn  the  marvellous 
fertility  of  this  valley  to  the  most  profitable  uses.  He  has 
encouraged  the  culture  of  cotton,  which  became  very  exten- 
sive during  our  civil  war,  and  is  still  perhaps  the  chief  in- 
dustry of  the  country.  Next  to  this  is  the  growth  of  the 
sugar-cane  :  he  has  expended  millions  in  the  erection  of 
great  manufactories  of  sugar,  whose  large  white  walls  and 
tall  chimneys  are  the  most  conspicuous  objects  at  many 
points  along  the  Nile. 

Now,  as  thousands  of  years  ago,  the  great  business  of  the 
people  is  irrigation.    The  river  does  everything.    It  fertilizes 


20  ARAB   VILLAGES. 

the  land;  it  yields  the  crops.  The  only  thing  is  to  bring 
the  water  to  the  land  at  the  seasons  when  the  river  does  not 
overflow.  This  is  done  by  a  vei*y  simple  and  rude  apparatus, 
somewhat  like  an  old-fashioned  well-sweep,  by  which  a  bucket 
is  lowered  into  the  river,  and  as  it  is  swung  up  the  water  is 
turned  into  a  trench  which  conducts  it  over  the  land.  This 
is  the  shadoof,  the  same  which  was  used  in  the  time  of  Moses. 
There  is  another  method  by  which  a  wheel  is  turned  by  an 
ox,  lifting  up  a  series  of  buckets  attached  to  a  chain,  but 
this  is  too  elaborate  and  expensive  for  the  gi'eater  part  of  the 
poor  people  who  are  the  tillers  of  the  soil. 

We  pass  a  great  number  of  villages,  but,  larger  and  small- 
er, all  present  the  same  general  features.  At  a  distance  they 
have  rather  a  pretty  effect,  as  they  are  generally  embowered  in 
palm  trees,  out  of  which  sometimes  peers  the  white  minaret 
of  a  mosque.  But  a  nearer  approach  destroys  all  the  pic- 
turesqueness.  The  houses  are  built  of  unbui'nt  brick,  dried 
in  the  sun.  They  are  mere  huts  of  mud — as  wretched  habi- 
tations as  an  Irish  hovel  or  an  Indian  wigwam.  The  floor  is 
the  earth,  where  all  sexes  and  ages  sit  on  the  ground,  while 
in  an  enclosure  scarcely  separate  from  the  family,  sheep  and 
goats,  and  dogs  and  asses  and  camels,  lie  down  together. 

The  only  pretty  feature  of  an  Arab  village  is  the  doves. 
Where  these  Africans  got  their  fondness  for  birds,  I  know 
not,  but  their  mud  houses  are  surmounted — and  one  might 
almost  say  castellatpd — with  dove-cotes,  which  of  course  are 
literally  *'  pigeon-holed,"  and  stuck  round  with  branches,  to 
seem  like  trees,  and  these  rude  aviaries  are  alive  with  wings 
all  day  long.  It  was  a  pretty  and  indeed  a  touching  sight  to 
see  these  beautiful  creatures,  cooing  and  fluttering  above, 
presenting  such  a  contrast,  in  their  airy  flights  and  bright 
plumage,  to  the  dark  and  sad  human  creatures  below. 

But  if  the  houses  of  the  people  are  so  mean  and  poor,  their 
clothing  is  still  worse,  consisting*  generally  of  but  one  gar- 
ment, a  kind  of  sack  of  coarse  stuff.    The  men  working  at  the 


POVERTY   OF   THE   PEOPLE.  21 

shadoof  on  the  river  brink  have  only  a  strip  of  cloth  around 
their  loins.  The  women  have  a  little  more  dress  than  the 
men,  though  generally  barefoot  and  bareheaded — while  car- 
rying heavy  jars  of  water  on  their  heads.  Tlie  children  have 
the  merest  shred  of  a  garment,  a  clout  of  rags,  in  such  tatters 
that  you  wonder  how  it  can  hold  together,  while  many  are 
absolutely  naked. 

This  utter  destitution  would  entail  immense  suffeiing,  and 
perhaps  cause  the  whole  race  to  die  out,  but  for  the  climate, 
which  is  so  mild  that  it  takes  away  in  a  great  degree  the 
Deed  of  shelter  and  i-aiment,  which  in  other  countries  are 
necessary  to  human  existence. 

This  extreme  poverty  is  aggravated  by  one  disease,  which 
is  almost  universal.  The  bright  sun,  glaring  on  the  white 
sands,  produces  an  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  which  being 
neglected,  often  ends  in  blindness.  1  have  seen  more  men  in 
Egypt  with  one  eye,  or  with  none,  than  in  all  Europe. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  a  people,  thus  reduced  by  pov- 
erty and  smitten  by  disease,  would  be  crushed  out  of 
all  semblance  of  humanity.  And  yet  this  Arab  race  is 
one  which  has  a  strong  tenacity  of  life.  Most  travellers 
judge  them  harshly,  because  they  are  disgusted  by  the  un- 
ceasing cry  for  hackslieesh,  which  is  the  first  word  that  a  stran- 
ger hears  as  he  lands  in  Egypt,  and  the  last  as  he  leaves  it. 
But  even  this  (although  it  is  certainly  a  nuisance  and  a  pest) 
might  be  regarded  with  more  merciful  judgment,  if  it  were 
considered  that  it  is  only  the  outward  sign  of  an  internal  dis- 
ease ;  that  general  beggary  means  general  poverty  and  gen- 
eral misery. 

Leaving  this  noisy  crowd,  which  gathers  about  us  in  every 
village  that  we  enter,  it  is  easy  to  find  diflferent  specimens  of 
Ai*ab  character,  which  engage  our  interest  and  compel  our 
respect.  One  cannot  look  at  these  men  without  admiring 
their  physique.  They  remind  me  much  of  our  American  In- 
dians.    Like  them,  they  are  indolent,  unless  goaded  to  work 


22  VENERABLE   ARABS. 

by  necessity ,  and  find  nothing  so  pleasant  as  to  sit  idly  in  tlie 
sun.  But  when  they  stand  up  they  have  an  attitude  as  erect 
as  any  Indian  chief,  and  a  natui-al  dignity,  which  is  the  badge 
of  their  race.  Many  a  man  who  has  but  a  single  garment  to 
cover  him,  will  wrap  it  about  him  as  proudly  as  any  Spanish 
cavalier  would  toss  his  cloak  over  his  shoulders,  and  stalk 
away  with  a  bold,  free  stride,  as  if,  in  spite  of  centuries  of 
humiliation,  he  were  still  the  untamed  lord  of  the  desert. 
Their  old  men  are  most  venerable  in  appearance.  With  their 
long  beards,  white  turbans,  and  flowing  garments,  they  might 
stand  for  the  picture  of  Old  Testament  patriarchs.  The  wo- 
men too  ( who  do  not  cover  their  faces  as  much  as  those  in 
lower  Egypt),  though  coarsely  and  meanly  dressed,  yet  as  they 
walk  with  their  water-jars  on  their  heads,  stand  more  erect 
than  the  fashionable  ladies  of  our  cities.  I  see  them  every 
day  coming  to  fill  their  "  pitchers  "  precisely  as  Rebecca  and 
Rachel  came  three  thousand  years  ago,  and  if  I  should  ap- 
proach one,  saying,  Give  me  to  drink,  (which  I  might  well  do, 
for  the  water  of  the  Nile — though  containing  so  much  sedi- 
ment, that  it  needs  to  be  filtered — is  as  soft  and  sweet  as 
that  of  our  own  Croton),  she  would  let  down  her  jar  from 
her  head  just  as  Rebecca  let  down  her  jar  for  the  servant 
of  Abraham,  when  he  came  to  ask  her  in  marriage  for  his 
master's  son  Isaac. 

The  children  too,  though  often  naked,  and  if  clothed  at 
all,  always  in  rags,  yet  have  fine  olive  complexions,  and 
dazzling  teeth,  and  those  bright  eyes  which  are  the  sign  of 
a  degree  of  native  intelligence. 

Nor  can  I  refuse  to  say  a  word  for  the  poor  donkey-boy. 
Many  years  ago  a  Scotchman  in  the  Cape  Colony,  South 
Africa,  who  was  accustomed  to  make  long  journeys  in  the 
bush,  wrote  a  little  poem,  depicting  the  joys  of  that  solitary 
life,  which  began, 

"  Afar  in  the  desert  I  love  to  ride, 
With  the  silent  bush-boy  by  my  side." 


ASSIOUT.  ^8- 

The  donkey-boy  is  never  silent,  he  is  always  singing  or 
calling  to  his  donkey,  urging  him  forward  with  stick  and 
voice ;  yet  who  could  wish  a  more  patient  or  faithful  attend- 
ant, who,  though  on  foot,  trots  by  your  side  from  morning 
to  night,  the  slave  of  your  caprice,  taking  meekly  all  your 
rebukes,  jjerhaps  undeserved,  and  content  at  last  with  a 
pittance  for  his  service  ? 

So  have  I  had  a  little  girl  as  a  water-carrier,  running 
close  to  my  saddle  all  day  long,  keeping  up  with  the  don- 
key's pace,  and  carrying  a  small  jar  of  water  on  her  head, 
to  wash  my  hands  and  face,  or  assuage  my  thirst,  thankful 
at  last  for  a  few  piastres  as  her  reward. 

We  reached  Assiout,  the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt,  early 
Sunday  morning,  and  laid  up  for  the  day.  While  our  boat's 
company  were  preparing  to  go  on  shore  to  see  the  town,  I 
mounted  a  donkey  and  started  off  to  find  the  American  Mis- 
sion, which  is  at  work  among  the  Copts,  who  claim  to  be 
the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  I  arrived  at  the 
chapel  in  time  to  hear  a  sermon  and  an  address  to  the  Sun- 
day-school. As  the  services  were  in  Arabic,  I  could  not 
understand  what  was  said,  but  1  could  perceive  at  once  the 
earnestness  of  the  speakers,  and  the  close  attention  of  the 
hearers.  After  the  sermon  there  was  a  baptism.  The  con- 
gregation was  a  very  resj)ectable  one  both  in  numbers  and 
appearance.  There  were  perhaps  two  hundred  jiresent,  all 
decently,  although  some  were  very  poorly  clad,  and  presented 
a  striking  contrast  to  the  ragged  and  dirty  people  around 
them.  In  the  qmet  and  orderly  worship,  and  the  songs  that 
were  sung,  which  were  Arabic  words  to  American  tunes, 
there  was  much  to  make  one  think  of  home.  There  was 
nothing  to  distinguish  the  congregation  except  the  Oriental 
turbans  and  dress,  and  the  fact  that  the  women  sat  apart 
from  the  men,  separated  by  a  screen,  which  shows  that  the 
seclusion  of  women  is  not  confined  to  the  Mohammedans. 
It  is  an  Oriental  custom,  and  is  observed  by  the  Copts  as 


24  MISSION   AMONG    THE   COPTS. 

■well  as  the  Moslems.  I  am  told  that  even  among  Christian 
families  here,  it  is  not  considered  quite  "  the  thing "  for 
women  to  go  abroad  and  show  impertinent  curiosity,  and 
that  ladies  of  good  position,  who  are  as  intelligent  as  most 
Orientals,  have  never  seen  the  Nile,  bvit  two  miles  distant ! 
Such  is  the  power  of  fashion  even  in  Africa.  In  the  church 
are  several  men  of  wealth,  who  give  freely  of  their  means, 
as  well  as  use  their  influence,  for  its  support.  The  Copts 
are  nominal  Christians,  although,  like  most  of  the  Christian 
sects  of  the  East,  they  are  very  ignorant  and  very  super- 
stitious. But  they  have  not  the  fanatical  hatred  to  Chris- 
tianity of  the  Mussulmans.  They  acknowledge  the  authority 
of  the  Bible,  and  are  thus  more  open  to  argument  and  persua- 
sion. Besides  this  congregation,  the  mission  has  some  dozen 
schools  in  the  surrounding  country.  In  the  town  itself, 
besides  the  schools  for  the  poorest  children,  it  has  a  board- 
ing-school for  those  of  a  better  class,  an  academy  which  is 
the  beginning  of  a  college,  and  half  a  dozen  young  men  are 
preparing  for  the  ministry.  The  field  is  a  very  hopeful  one, 
and  I  was  assured  that  the  success  of  the  mission  was  limit- 
ed only  by  the  means  at  its  disposal. 

After  visiting  the  schools,  Kev.  Mr.  Strang  accompanied 
me  through  the  town.  It  has  over  twenty-five  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  is  the  point  of  departure  for  the  caravans 
which  cross  the  Great  Desert  to  Darfour  and  the  far  in- 
terior of  Africa,  returning  laden  with  ivory  and  ostrich 
feathers,  as  in  the  days  of  King  Solomon.  We  saw  in  an 
open  square,  or  market-place,  some  hundred  camels,  that,  as 
they  lay  wearily  on  the  earth,  looked  as  if  they  might  have 
made  the  long  journey  over  the  trackless  sands.  Laborers 
were  at  work,  with  no  respect  for  the  day,  for  Friday  is  the 
Mohammedan  Sabbath ;  and  my  friend  pointed  out,  where  a 
number  of  workmen  were  building  a  house,  the  "  task- 
master "  sitting  on  the  tojj  of  the  wall  to  overlook  them,  as 
in  the  days  of  the   Bible.     As  we  returned  by  an  old  portal 


SCENEKY   AND   CLIMATE.      .  25 

in  the  city  walls,  we  found  a  number  of  long-bearded  and 
venerable  men,  who  were  "  sitting  in  the  gate  "  as  "  elders  " 
to  administer  justice.  The  city  gate  is  the  place  of  honor 
and  of  justice  now,  as  it  was  thousands  of  years  ago. 

In  the  mountain  behind  the  town  are  a  great  number  of 
tombs,  like  those  of  Beni-Hassan,  vast  chambers  hewn  out 
of  the  rock  ages  ago  for  burial  places.  We  walked  along 
by  these  silent  memorials  of  the  mighty  dead,  to  the  sum- 
mit, from  which  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  views  of  the 
valley  of  the  Nile.  Below  the  plain  is  spread  out  for  many 
miles,  well  watered  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  the  emerald 
green  coming  up  to  the  very  foot  of  the  barren  hills.  But 
there  it  ceases  instantly,  giving  place  to  the  desert. 

These  contrasts  suggest  some  comparisons  between  the 
scenery  and  the  climate  of  Egypt,  and  our  own  country. 
Whoever  breathes  this  balmy  air,  and  looks  up  to  this  cloud- 
less sky,  must  feel  that  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth  has  been 
bountiful  to  Egypt.  As  we  read  of  the  winter  storms  now 
raging  over  half  of  Europe,  we  bless  the  more  kindly  skies 
that  are  over  us  now.  But  after  a  few  weeks  of  this  dreamy, 
languid  life,  one  begins  to  feel  the  want  of  something  else  to 
stir  his  blood.  He  finds  that  nature  in  Egypt,  like  the 
works  of  man,  like  the  temples  and  the  pyramids,  is  a  sublime 
monotony.  The  landscapes  are  all  the  same.  There  are 
four  or  five  grand  features,  the  river,  the  valley,  the  hills 
that  enclose  it,  and  beyond  the  boundless  desert,  and  over 
all  the  burning  sun  and  sky.  These  are  the  elements  that 
enter  into  every  landscape.  There  is  no  change,  no  variety. 
Look  where  you  will,  there  is  no  vision  in  the  distance  of 
lofty  peaks  dark  with  pines,  or  white  with  snow,  no  torrents 
leaping  down  the  mountain  side  (the  silence  of  Egypt  is  one 
of  the  things  that  most  oppress  me),  no  brooks  that  run 
among  the  hills,  no  winding  paths  along  their  banks  that 
invite  the  stranger  to  lose  himself  in  their  shade.  I  see  in- 
deed hills  on  either  horizon,  but  they  are  barren  and  deso- 


26  A   CLOUDLESS   SKY. 

late.  On  all  this  double  range,  for  six  hundred  miles,  there 
is  not  a  single  green  thing — not  a  tree,  not  a  shrub,  not  a 
blade  of  grass,  not  even  a  rock  covered  with  moss,  only  a 
waste  of  sand  and  stone.  If  you  climbed  those  hills  yonder 
across  the  valley  you  would  look  off  upon  a  boundless  plain 
of  sand  that  stretches  to  the  Red  Sea ;  while  behind  where 
we  stand  is  the  Libyan  Desert,  which  is  only  an  arm  of  the 
Great  Sahara,  that  crosses  almost  the  whole  of  the  continent. 
In  all  this  waste  the  valley  of  the  Nile  is  the  one  narrow 
strip  of  fertility.  And  even  this  is  parched  and  burnt  up  to 
the  very  water's  edge.  Hence  the  monotony  of  vegeta- 
tion. There  is  not  a  forest  in  all  Egypt,  only  the  palm 
groves,  which  are  planted  like  garden  flowers,  but  no  tangled 
wild  wood,  no  lofty  elms,  no  broad-spreading  oaks  that  cast 
their  grateful  shadow  on  the  burning  plains.  All  that  va- 
riety of  nature,  with  which  in  other  lands  she  beguiles  the 
weary  heart  of  man,  is  wanting  here.  It  is  indeed  the  land 
of  the  sun,  and  in  that  is  at  once  its  attraction  and  its  terror, 
as  the  fiery  orb  beats  down  upon  it,  withering  man  and  beast, 
and  turning  the  earth  into  a  desert. 

Seeing  this  monotony  of  nature,  and  feeling  this  monot- 
ony of  life,  one  begins  to  pine  after  awhile,  for  a  return  to 
the  scenes  more  varied,  though  more  wild  and  rugged,  of  his 
own  more  noi'thern  clime.  We  hear  much  of  the  beauty  of 
a  "  cloudless  sky."  It  is  indeed  a  relief  for  a  few  weeks  to 
those  who  escape  from  wintry  storms,  from  bitter  winds  and 
blinding  snow.  But  who  would  have  sunshine  forever? 
The  light  and  warmth  are  better  when  softened  and  subdued 
by  clouds  that  intercept  the  overpowering  rays.  But  here 
the  clouds  are  few,  and  they  do  not  "  return  after  the  rain," 
for  there  is  no  rain.  In  Lower  Egypt  there  is  what  may  be 
called  a  rainy  season.  In  the  Delta,  as  the  clouds  roll  up 
from  the  Mediterranean,  there  is  sometimes  a  sound  of  abun- 
dance of  rain.  But  in  Upper  Egypt  it  may  be  said  that  it 
never  rains.     In  Assiout  it  has  rained  bixt  three  times  in 


OH,  FOE   A    THUNDERSTORM  !  27 

ten  years !  Of  course  the  heat  is  sometimes  fearful.  Now 
it  is  mid-winter,  and  the  air  is  comparatively  cool  and  bra- 
cing, but  in  midsummer  it  reaches  110  and  112  degrees  in  the 
shade  !  For  days  and  nights  together  the  heat  is  so  intense 
that  not  a  leaf  stirs  in  the  palm  groves.  Not  only  is  there 
not  a  drop  of  rain — there  is  not  a  breath  of  air.  This  it  is 
to  have  a  "  cloudless  sky"  !  Gladly  then  would  our  friend 
exchange  for  half  the  year  the  climate  of  Egypt  for  that  of 
America.  How  refreshing  it  would  be  to  him  to  see,  just 
for  once,  great  masses  of  black  clouds  gathering  over  the 
Arabian  Hills,  to  see  the  lightnings  flash  as  he  has  seen 
them  in  his  native  Ohio,  and  to  hear  the  thunder-peals  roll- 
ing across  the  valley  from  mountain  to  mountain,  and  at  last 
dying  away  on  the  Libyan  desert. 

Think  of  this,  ye  who  shiver  in  your  winter  storms  at 
home,  and  sigh  for  Egypt.  Take  it  all  in  all,  would  you 
make  the  exchange  ? 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   TEMPLES   OF   EGYPT — DID   MOSES  GET  HIS   LAW  FROM   THE 
EGYPTIANS  ? 

In  the  distribution  of  the  monuments  of  Egypt,  it  is  a 
curious  fact  that  the  Pyramids  are  found  almost  wliolly  in 
Lower  Egypt,  and  the  great  Temples  in  Upper  Egypt.  It 
was  not  till  we  had  been  a  week  on  the  Nile,  that  we  had 
our  first  sight  of  the  latter  at  Denderah.  We  have  since 
spent  three  days  at  Thebes,  the  great  centre  of  historical  in- 
terest, and  have  made  a  regular  campaign  of  sight-seeing, 
starting  on  excursions  every  morning,  and  thus  have  explored 
the  ruins  on  both  sides  of  the  river — for  Thebes,  like  many 
other  great  cities — like  London  and  Paris — was  built  on  two 
sides  of  a  river,  but  one  much  greater  than  the  Thames  or 
the  Seine,  yet  not  so  great  but  that  it  was  spanned  by  a 
bridge  (at  least  this  is  inferred  from  some  ancient  sculptures 
and  inscriptions),  over  which  poured  a  population  such  as 
pours  over  London  Bridge  to-day.  The  site  seems  made  for 
a  gi'eat  capital,  for  here  the  mountains  retire  from  the  river, 
sweeping  round  in  a  circuit  of  some  fifty  miles,  leaving  a 
broad  plain  to  be  filled  with  human  habitations.  Here  four 
thousand  years  ago  was  built  a  city  greater  than  that  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tigris  or  the  Euphrates,  than  Nineveh  or  Baby- 
lon. Here  was  the  centre  of  power  and  dominion  for  two 
continents — not  only  for  Africa,  but  for  Asia — to  which 
flocked  the  multitudinous  nations  of  Assyria  and  Arabia  and 
Persia  and  the  farthest  East,  as  well  as  the  tribes  of  Ethiopia 
— as  two  thousand  years  later  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth 
flocked  to  Rome.     It  is  easy,  from  historical  records  and 


THE   TEMPLES   OF   EGYPT.  29 

momimental  inscriptions,  to  form  some  idea  of  the  glory  of 
this  capital  of  the  ancient  world.  We  can  imagine  the  tu- 
mult and  the  roar  of  this  more  ancient  Rome,  when  the  char- 
iots of  mighty  kings,  and  the  tread  of  armies  returning 
victorious  from  distant  wars,  thundered  through  her  hundred 
gates. 

Then  did  the  kings  of  Egypt  rear  temples  and  palaces  and 
statues  and  obelisks  worthy  of  all  that  greatness.  Then 
were  built  the  most  gigantic  temples  ever  raised  by  the  hand 
of  man — as  much  sui'passing  in  vastness  and  grandeur  those 
reared  centuries  afterward  by  the  Greeks,  as  the  latter  sur- 
pass anything  by  the  moderns.  The  temples  of  Thebes — 
including  Luxor  and  Karnac,  which  are  parts  of  one  city — 
are  as  much  grander  than  the  Parthenon,  as  the  Parthenon  is 
grander  than  the  Madeleine  at  Paris,  which  is  a  feeble  at- 
tempt to  copy  it. 

We  have  now  been  a  week — beginning  with  Denderah — 
studying  these  ruins,  and  may  give  certain  general  impres- 
sions. We  do  not  attempt  any  detailed  description,  which 
must  necessarily  be  inadequate,  since  neither  words  nor  fig- 
ures convey  an  idea  of  them,  any  more  than  they  do  of  the 
Alps.  What  would  be  thought  of  an  avenue  nearly  two 
miles  long,  lined  with  over  twelve  hundred  colossal  sphinxes  ? 
Yet  such  was  the  avenue  from  Luxor  to  Kai'nac — an  ap- 
proach worthy  to  lead  to  the  temple  of  the  gods.  What  can 
we  say  of  a  forest  of  columns,  each  twelve  feet  in  diameter, 
stretching  oxit  in  long  colonnades  ;  of  the  massive  walls  cov- 
ered with  bas-reliefs  ;  and  obelisks  in  single  shafts  of  gi-anite, 
of  stich  height  and  weight  that  it  is  the  wonder  of  modem 
engineering  how  they  could  be  cut  from  the  side  of  the  hills, 
and  be  brought  a  hundred  and  forty  miles,  and  erected  on 
their  firm  bases. 

But  this  temple — or  rather  cluster  of  temples  and  palaces 
— was  not,  like  the  temple  of  Solomon,  finished  in  a  single 
reign.     Karnac  was  not  the  work  of  one  man,  or  of  one  gen- 


30  THE   TEMPLES   OF   EGYPT. 

eration.  It  was  twenty-five  hundred  years  in  building,  suc- 
cessive kings  and  dynasties  adding  to  the  mighty  whole, 
which  was  to  represent  all  the  glory  of  Egypt. 

The  general  impression  of  these  temples — and  the  same  is 
true  of  the  Egyptian  statues  and  sculptures — is  one  of  gran- 
deur rather  than  beauty.  They  seek  to  overpower  the  senses 
by  mere  size.  Sometimes  they  overdo  the  matter.  Thus  in 
the  temples  at  Karnac  the  columns  seem  to  me  too  large 
and  too  much  crowded  for  the  best  effect.  Ordinary  trees 
may  be  planted  in  a  dense  grove,  but  great,  broad- spreading 
oaks  or  elms  require  space  around  them ;  and  if  these  col- 
umns were  a  little  more  spaced — to  use  a  printer's  word — 
the  architectural  effect  would  be  still  grander.  So  in  the 
Egyptian  sculpture,  everything  is  colossal.  In  the  granite 
lions  and  sphinxes  there  is  always  an  aspect  of  power  in  re- 
pose which  is  very  impressive,  and  strikes  one  with  awe.  But 
in  any  lighter  work,  such  as  frescoes  and  bas-reliefs,  there  is 
a  total  absence  of  delicacy  and  grace.  Nothing  can  be  more 
stiff.  They  sometimes  have  a  rude  force  of  drawing,  but 
beauty  they  have  none.  That  was  born  in  Greece.  All  the 
sculptures  on  all  the  temples  of  Egypt  are  not  worth — except 
as  historical  monuments — the  friezes  of  the  Parthenon. 

One  thing  else  has  struck  me  much  as  to  the  plan  of  these 
temples,  viz :  that  we  see  in  them  the  types  and  models  of 
much  that  has  been  reproduced  in  various  forms  of  ecclesi- 
astical architecture.  One  has  but  to  observe  with  some  care 
the  construction  of  these  vast  basilicas,  to  see  how  many  fea- 
tures of  Jewish,  and  even  of  Christian  and  Moslem  architec- 
ture, have  been  adopted  from  still  older  temples  and  an 
earlier  religion.  Thus  in  the  temple  at  Edfoo  there  is  first 
the  vast  enclosure  surrounding  the  whole,  and  then  within 
the  walls  an  outer  court  open  to  the  sky,  corresponding  to 
the  Court  of  the  Gentiles  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  to 
the  Court  of  the  Fountains  leading  to  the  Mosques,  and  the 
cloister  surrounding  the  approaches  to  old  abbeys  and  cathe- 


DESOLATION   AT   THEBES.  31 

drals.  One  might  find  a  still  closer  resemblance  in  forms  of 
worsMp,  in  the  vestments  of  priests,  in  the  altars,  and  in  the 
burning  of  incense,  etc.,  a  parallel  which  scholars  have  often 
traced. 

And  now  of  all  this  magnificence  and  glory  of  the  ancient 
capital  of  Egypt,  what  remains  ?  Only  these  vast  ruins  of 
temples  and  palaces.  The  "  plain  of  Thebes  "  is  stUl  here, 
but  deserted  and  silent.  A  few  columns  and  statues  rise 
above  the  plain  to  mark  where  the  city  stood,  but  the  city 
itself  is  gone  as  much  as  the  people  who  inhabited  it  four 
thousand  years  ago.  A  few  miserable  mud  huts  are  built 
against  the  walls  of  mighty  temples,  and  the  ploughman 
drives  his  team  over  the  dust  of  the  city  of  a  hundred  gates. 
I  saw  a  fellah  ploughing  with  a  cow  and  a  camel  yoked  to- 
gether, and  a  couple  of  half-naked  Arabs  raising  water  with 
their  sAowioo/' between  the  Memnon  (the  statue  which  was 
said  to  sing  when  its  stony  lips  were  touched  by  the  rising 
of  the  sun)  and  its  brother  statue — the  two  great  Colossi, 
between  which  ran  the  Royal  street  to  Luxor.  Was  there 
ever  a  more  complete  and  utter  desolation  ?  In  the  temple 
called  the  Rameseum  once  stood  the  largest  statue  that  ever 
was  known — that  of  Rameses  the  Great  (the  same  who  had 
a  statue  at  Memphis,  for  he  erected  monuments  to  himself 
everywhere),  cut  out  of  a  single  block  of  granite  brought 
from  the  First  Cataract,  and  weighing  nearly  nine  hundred 
tons  !  On  this  was  inscribed,  as  Herodotus  wx'ites,  who  saw 
it  twenty- three  hundred  years  ago  :  "  I  am  the  king  of  kings  : 
if  any  man  wish  to  know  how  great  I  am,  and  where  I  lie, 
let  him  surpass  one  of  my  works  !  "  What  a  comment  on 
the  emptiness  of  human  ambition,  that  this  colossal  statue, 
which  was  to  last  to  the  end  of  the  world,  was  long  ago 
pulled  down  by  a  lat«r  conqueror,  Cambyses,  the  Persian, 
and  no\»  lies  on  its  back,  with  its  nose  knocked  off,  and  eyes 
put  out,  and  all  its  glory  in  the  dust ! 

In  studying  the  figures  and  the  inscriptions  on  the  walls 


82  THE   ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION. 

of  temples,  there  are  many  things  which  throw  light  on  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  Here  is  a 
scene  of  hunting,  or  of  fishing,  or  of  feasting.  Here  are  the 
different  trades,  which  show  the  skill  of  the  people  in  the 
mechanic  arts,  and  many  scenes  which  give  us  an  insight 
into  their  domestic  life.  These  have  been  the  subjects  of 
two  learned  and  most  interesting  works  by  Wilkinson, 
which  open  the  very  interior  of  ancient  Egypt  to  our  modern 
eyes.  They  show  a  very  high  degree  of  civilization — of  skill 
in  all  the  useful  arts,  a  skill  fully  equal  in  many  things,  and 
in  some  greatly  superior,  to  that  of  our  own  day.  Wendell 
Phillips,  in  his  famous  lecture  on  "  The  Lost  Arts,"  finds 
many  of  his  illustrations  in  ancient  Egypt.  I  could  not  but 
think  that  this  furnished  a  very  efiective  answer  to  those 
advocates  of  evolution,  who  hold  that  mankind  sprung  from 
animals,  and  have  gradually  developed  to  their  present 
state.  How  much  progress  have  the  Egyptians  made  in  four 
thousand  years  ?  Here  the  race  has  gone  backward,  so  that 
there  is  certainly  no  inherent  tendency  in  our  nature  to 
advance. 

But  I  was  less  interested  in  studying  the  domestic  life  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  than  their  religious  ideas.  Herodotus 
says  that  the  Egyptians  were  a  very  religious  people,  excel- 
ling all  others  in  the  honors  paid  to  their  gods ;  and  this  we 
can  well  believe,  seeing  the  temples  that  they  reared  for  their 
worship.  But  what  were  the  gods  they  adored,  and  what 
sort  of  worship  did  they  render,  and  how  did  all  this  act  on 
the  life  and  character  of  the  people  ?  Here  we  obtain  a  less 
exalted  estimate  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  The  remains 
which  they  have  left,  while  they  illustrate  the  greatness  of 
the  empire,  which  four  thousand  years  ago  had  its  seat  in 
the  valley  of  the  Nile,  do  not  give  a  high  idea  of  its  Religion. 
The  land  was  wholly  given  to  idolatry.  The  Egyptians  had 
as  many  gods  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  only  baser  and 
lower,  indicating  baser  and  lower  ideas.     They  made  gods, 


EGYPIIAN   roOLATKY THE   SACKED   BULLS.  33 

not  only  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  but  of  beasts  and  birds 
and  reptiles — of 'the  apis  and  the  ibis — of  the  serpent  and 
the  crocodile. 

At  Sakkara  we  visited  one  of  the  most  stupendous  mauso- 
leums that  we  have  seen  in  Egypt — one  which  Herodotus 
described,  but  which  for  centuries  was  so  buried  by  the 
sands  of  the  desert  that  its  very  site  was  not  known  until 
brought  to  light  by  the  researches  of  Mariette  Bey,  who  has 
done  80  much  to  restore  the  monuments  of  ancient  Egypt. 
Tlie  approach  to  it  was  by  an  avenue  of  sphinxes,  which  led 
to  a  vast  subten*anean  gallery — twenty  feet  wide  and  high — 
and  leading  two  thousand  feet,  more  than  a  third  of  a  mile, 
under  the  earth.  This  long,  vaulted  passage  is  hewn  in  the 
solid  rock — out  of  which  open  on  either  side  a  series  of 
chambers  or  recesses,  like  side  chapels — each  containing  a 
sarcophagus,  15x8  feet.  These  tombs,  hollowed  out  of  the 
solid  granite,  are  so  huge  and  massive  that  we  wonder  how 
they  ever  could  have  been  got  there.  Yet  these  great  sarco- 
phagi— fit  for  the  burial  places  of  a  long  line  of  kings — were 
not  for  the  Pharaohs  or  the  Ptolemies,  but  for  the  Sacred 
JBulls  !  Thirty  of  these  sarcophagi  have  been  found,  and  on 
the  walls  are  tablets  which  record  the  birth,  and  death,  and 
burial  of  each  one  of  these  sacred  beasts.  These  were  the 
gods  of  Egypt,  mother  of  the  arts,  and  civilizer  of  the  earth  ! 
This  great  repository  of  dead  divinities  is  a  colossal  monu- 
ment, at  once  of  the  architectural  skill  of  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians, and  of  their  degrading  superstition. 

This  single  fact  is  enough  to  answer  those  who  would  im- 
ply, if  they  do  not  quite  dare  to  assert,  that  the  inspiration 
of  the  Books  of  Moses  was  derived  from  the  Egyptians.  It 
is  a  favorite  theory  of  certain  writers  that  Moses,  being 
brought  up  in  Egypt,  here  obtained  both  the  Law  and  the 
Religion  which  he  gave  to  the  Israelites.  No  doubt  he  did 
learn  mifch  from  a  country  that  was  at  that  time  the  most 
civilized  in  the  world.  He  was  brought  up  in  a  court,  and  en- 
2* 


34  DID    MOSES  GET  HIS    LAW 

joyed  every  advantage  of  a  royal  education.  He  was  "  leai-ned 
in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians."  And  it  detracts  not  at 
all  from  his  inspiration,  to  suppose  that  he  may  have  been 
instructed  to  embody  in  his  new  and  better  code  whatever 
was  excellent  in  the  older  system,  an-d  had  been  approved  by 
the  experience  of  centuries.  The  ceremonial  laws — such  as 
those  of  purification — may  have  been  adopted  from  the 
Egyptians.  But  these  are  the  mere  fringes  of  the  garment 
of  the  great  Lawgiver.  As  soon  as  we  open  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  we  find  traces  of  a  wisdom  such  as  the  Egyptians 
never  knew.  The  very  first  sentence — "  In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth" — scatters  the  fables 
of  Isis  and  Osiris,  and  substitutes  for  the  troop  of  heathen 
deities  the  worship  of  One  Living  and  True  God.  This  single 
declaration  marks  a  stupendous  advance  in  the  religious  faith 
and  worship  of  mankind. 

The  same  first  principle  appears  as  the  corner-stone  of  the 
law  given  on  Mount  Sinai :  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  which 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of 
bondage.     Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me." 

The  second  law  of  the  first  table  breaks  in  pieces  the  im- 
ages of  the  gods  of  the  Egyptians :  "  Thou  shalt  not  make 
unto  thee  any  graven  image,  nor  any  likeness  of  any  thing 
that  is  in  heaven  above,  nor  in  the  earth  beneath,  nor  in  the 
waters  under  the  earth."  This  was  spoken  to  a  people  that 
had  just  come  out  of  a  country  where  they  worshipped  beasts 
and  birds  and  reptiles,  and  where  the  walls  of  the  temples 
were  covered  with  the  images  of  all  kinds  of  foul  and  creep- 
ing things. 

In  this  age  of  the  world,  and  among  civilized  nations,  we 
cannot  understand  the  passion  for  idolatry.  Yet  it  is  one  of 
the  most  universal  and  ineradicable  instincts  of  a  half  barba- 
rous people.  They  see  tokens  of  an  unseen  power  in  the 
forces  of  nature,  in  clouds  and  winds,  in  lightning  and  tem- 
pest, and  they  torment  themselves  with  all  imaginable  ter- 


FEOM    THE   EGYPTIANS?  35 

rors,  from  which  they  seek  relief  and  protection  in  bowing 
down  to  gods  of  wood  and  stone. 

The  Israelites  coming  out  of  Egypt,  were  out  of  the  house 
of  bondage  in  one  sense,  but  they  were  in  it  in  another. 
They  were  continually  relapsing  into  idolatry.  The  golden 
calf  of  Aaron  was  but  an  imitation  of  the  sacred  bulls  of 
Egypt.  Often  they  pined  for  the  products  of  the  fertile  val- 
ley of  the  Nile.  With  nothing  but  the  burning  sands  beneath 
their  feet,  they  might  well  long  for  the  shade  of  the  palm 
tree  and  for  its  delicious  fruit,  and  they  said.  Why  hath  this 
man  Moses  brought  us  up  to  die  in  this  wilderness  ?  It  re- 
quired forty  years  of  wandering,  and  that  a  whole  generation 
should  leave  their  bones  to  whiten  the  sands  of  the  desert, 
before  their  children  could  be  wholly  alienated  from  the  wor- 
ship of  false  gods.  So  not  only  with  the  Israelites,  but  with 
all  nations  of  men,  ages  of  fieiy  discipline  have  been  neces- 
sary to  bring  back  the  race  to  this  first  article  of  our  faith : 
"  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  the  Maker  of  heaven 
and  earth." 

We  might  follow  the  comparison  through  all  the  tables  of 
the  law,  to  show  how  absurd  is  the  pretence  that  what  Moses 
taught  to  the  Israelites  he  first  learned  from  the  Egy|)tians. 
Tell  us,  ye  learned  antiquaries,  where  on  all  these  temples, 
and  in  all  the  records  which  they  have  left  us,  is  there  any 
trace  of  the  Ten  Commandments  ? 

And  yet  Egypt  is  connected  very  intimately,  in  history  at 
least,  with  the  birth  of  our  leligion.  No  other  country,  ex- 
cept Palestine,  figures  so  largely  in  the  Bible.  Abraham 
went  down  into  Egypt.  Here  came  the  sons  of  Jacob  to  buy 
corn,  and  found  Joseph  ruling  in  the  house  of  Pharaoh. 
And  hither  centuries  later  fled  the  virgin  mother  with  her 
child  from  the  wrath  of  Herod,  fulfilling  the  prediction,  "  Out 
of  Egypt  have  I  called  my  son." 

But  Religion — the  Divine  wisdom  which  at  once  instimcts 
and  saves  mankind — came   not  from  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 


36  WHEN  TRUE   RELIGION   WAS   BORN. 

Abraham  and  Jacob  and  Moses  saw  the  Pyramids  standing 
just  as  we  see  tliem  now,  but  they  did  not  point  them  to  the 
true  God.  That  knowledge  came  from  a  higher  source. 
"  History,"  says  Bunsen,  "  was  born  on  that  night  when 
Moses,  with  the  law  of  God  in  his  heart,  led  the  people  of 
Israel  out  of  Egypt."  And  not  History  only,  but  Religion 
then  came  to  a  new  birth,  that  was  to  be  the  herald  of  new 
and  better  hopes,  and  of  a  higher  civilization  than  was  known 
to  the  ancient  world. 


CHAPTER  TV. 

THE  EGYPTIAN  DOCTRINE  OF  A  FUTURE  LIFE. 

The  valley  of  the  Nile  is  one  vast  sepulchre.  Tombs  and 
temples !  Temples  and  tombs  !  This  is  the  sum  of  the 
monuments  which  ancient  Egypt  has  left  us.  Probably  no 
equal  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  was  ever  so  populous,  at 
once  with  the  living  and  the  dead.  It  is  but  a  narrow  strip 
of  territory — a  line  of  green  between  two  deserts ;  and 
yet  on  this  mere  ribbon  of  Africa  lived  the  millions  that 
made  one  of  the  most  populous  and  powerful  of  ancient 
empires.  They  were  fed  by  the  marvellous  fertility  of 
the  Nile  valley,  till  they  stood  upon  it  almost  as  thick  as 
the  ranks  of  corn  that  waved  around  them :  and  here,  when 
life  was  ended,  they  found  a  resting-place  in  the  bosom  of  tlie 
earth  that  nourished  them,  on  which  they  slept  as  children  on 
a  mother's  breast.  This  strip  of  earth,  long  and  narrow  like 
a  grave,  has  been  the  sepulchre  of  nations.  Here  the 
myriads  of  Egypt's  ancient  reigns — from  the  time  of  Menes 
— through  the  long  line  of  the  Pharaohs  and  Ptolemies — the 
generations  that  built  the  Pyramids  and  those  that  came  after 
— laid  themselves  down  to  sleep  in  the  great  valley.  Thus 
the  very  dust  of  Egypt  was  made  up  of  the  dust  of  ancient 
Egyptians. 

But  this  was  only  the  lot  of  the  common  people,  to  mingle 
their  dust  with  common  clay — their  tomb  the  common  earth, 
their  end  to  be  exhaled  into  the  common  air,  or  to  reap])ear 
in  other  natural  forms,  living  in  plants,  blooming  in  flowers, 
or  in  broad- leaved  palms,  casting  a  shadow  on  the  earth  from 


38  EGYPTIAN   DOCTRINE   OF    A   FUTURE   LIFE. 

which  they  sprung.  But  for  her  great  ones,  more  enduring 
monuments  were  reared  to  guard  their  dust  and  perpetuate 
their  names.  No  people,  ancient  or  modern,  ever  lavished 
so  much  on  these  sacred  and  pious  memorials.  They  ex- 
pended more  on  the  tombs  of  the  dead  than  on  the  houses  of 
the  living,  for  they  reasoned  that  the  latter  were  but  tem- 
porary dwellings,  while  the  former  were  everlasting  habita- 
tions. The  kings  of  Egypt  cared  more  for  great  tombs  than 
great  palaces,  and  they  reared  such  mausoleums  as  the  earth 
never  saw  before.  The  Pyramids  were  their  tombs,  and  the 
mountains  were  hollowed  into  royal  sepulchres.  The  rock 
tombs  of  Beni-Hassan  are  cut  in  the  side  of  the  hills. 
The  barren  mountain  that  looks  off  upon  the  great  Libyan 
desert,  is  honeycombed  with  vast  and  silent  halls  of  the  dead. 
At  Thebes  the  traveller,  ascending  from  the  Nile,  winds  his 
way  among  hills  of  sand  into  a  valley  of  desolation.  The 
summits  around  are  not  covered  with  pines  like  our  own 
darkly  wooded  hills,  nor  do  even  the  rocks  gather  moss — but 
all  is  bare  and  desolate.  The  desert  has  overflowed  the  earth 
like  a  sea,  and  not  a  shrub  nor  a  blade  of  grass  has  survived 
the  universal  deluge.  Yet  here  where  not  a  living  thing  can 
be  found,  has  been  discovered  underground  the  most  remark- 
able series  of  tombs  which  exists.  A  whole  mountain  is 
pierced  with  deep  excavations.  Passages  open  into  its  rocky 
sides,  running  many  hundred  feet  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
and  branching  off  into  recesses  like  side  chapels.  These  Halls 
of  Death  are  like  kings'  palaces,  with  stately  chambers  broad 
and  high,  whose  sides  and  ceilings  are  covered  with  hie- 
roglyphics and  illustrative  symbols. 

A  fact  so  remarkable  as  this,  that  the  architecture  of  a 
great  empire  which  has  built  the  most  colossal  structures  in 
the  world,  has  this  tomblike  character,  must  have  a  meaning. 
The  Egyptians  were  a  very  religious  people.  They  were  not  a 
gay  and  thoughtless  race,  like  some  of  their  Asiatic  and  Eu- 
ropean neighbors.     Thei'e  is  something  grave  even  in  theii' 


EGYPTIAN   DOCTRINE   OF   A    FUTDEE    LIFE.  39 

faces,  as  seen  in  ancient  statues  and  monuments.  Their  very 
architecture  had  this  heavy  and  solemn  character.  These 
colossal  temples,  these  silent  sphinxes,  seem  oppressed  with 
some  great  mystery  which  they  cannot  reveal.  These  tombs 
show  that  the  Egyptian  mind  was  full  of  the  idea  of  death, 
and  of  another  life.  The  Egyptians  were  not  Atheists,  nor 
Sadducees.  They  believed  devoutly  in  God,  and  in  a  life  to 
come. 

How  strongly  the  idea  of  another  life  had  taken  hold  of  the 
Egyptian  mind  is  evident  from  the  symbols  in  their  religion. 
The  symbol  most  frequently  employed  is  that  of  the  scarabceus 
— or  beetle — the  image  of  which  appears  everywhere,  which 
by  analogy  teaches  that  life,  in  passing  through  death,  may 
be  born  to  a  new  life.  The  beetle  lays  its  eggs  in  the  slime 
of  the  Nile ;  it  buries  them  in  mud,  which  it  works  into  a 
ball,  and  rolls  over  and  over,  back  to  the  edge  of  the  desert, 
and  buries  in  sand.  There  its  work  is  ended :  nature  does 
the  rest.  Out  of  this  grave  comes  in  time  a  resurrection,  and 
life  is  born  of  death.  The  ostrich  eggs  hung  up  in  mosques, 
have  the  same  symbolical  meaning.  The  ostrich  buries  its 
eggs  in  the  sand,  and  nature,  that  kind  mother  which  watches 
over  all  life,  gives  them  being.  Thus  is  conveyed  the  same 
idea  as  in  the  analogy  of  the  chrysalis  and  the  butterfly. 

Studying  the  religious  faith  of  the  Egyptians  a  little  more 
closely,  we  see  that  they  believed  not  only  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  but  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  The  doctrine 
taught  by  Paul,  was  long  before  taught  by  the  priests  of 
Egypt.  Their  tombs  were  not  merely  memorials  of  those 
who  had  ceased  to  live,  but  resting-places  for  the  bodies  of 
those  whose  spirits  were  absent  but  would  some  day  return. 
For  this,  bodies  were  embalmed  with  religious  care ;  they 
were  buried  in  tombs  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  laid  away 
in  Pyramids,  or  in  caverns  hollowed  out  of  the  heart  of  the 
mountains.  There,  embedded  in  the  eternal  rocks,  locked 
up  with  the  bars  of  the  everlasting  hills,  it  seemed  that  their 


4:0  EGYPTIAN   DOCTRINE   OF   A   FUTURE   LIFE. 

remains  would  rest  secure  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection 
day. 

Further,  they  believed  not  only  in  immortality  and  in 
resiirrection,  but  also  in  retribution.  The  soul  that  was  to 
pass  into  another  life,  was  to  go  into  it  to  be  judged.  There 
it  was  to  be  called  to  account  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 
Even  the  funeral  rites  indicated  how  strong  was  the  belief  of 
a  judgment  to  come  for  all  who  departed  this  life.  After  the 
bodies  were  embalmed,  they  were  borne  in  solemn  procession 
to  the  Nile  (most  of  the  tombs  being  on  the  western  bank), 
or  to  a  sacred  lake,  across  which  they  were  to  be  ferried. 
(Did  not  this  suggest  to  later  Roman  mythologists  the  river 
Styx,  and  the  boatman  Charon  who  conveyed  departed  souls 
to  the  gloomy  shades  of  Pluto  ?)  As  the  funeral  procession 
arrived  at  the  borders  of  the  lake,  it  paused  till  certain 
questions  were  answered,  on  which  it  depended  whether  the 
dead  might  receive  burial :  or  should  be  condemned  to 
wander  in  darkness  three  thousand  years.  If  it  passed 
this  ordeal,  it  moved  forward,  not  to  its  everlasting  repose, 
but  to  the  Hall  of  Judgment,  where  Osiris  sits  upon  his 
throne  as  the  judge  of  all  mankind.  This  scene  is  constantly 
represented  in  sculptures,  in  bas-reliefs,  and  in  frescoes  on 
the  walls  of  tombs.  In  one  of  them  a  condemned  wretch  is 
driven  away  in  the  shape  of  a  pig  !  (Was  it  here  that  Pytha- 
goras, who  studied  in  Egypt,  obtained  his  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls  ?)  Before  Osiris  is  the  scribe,  the 
recording  angel,  who  keeps  a  faithful  record  of  the  deeds  done 
in  the  body.  A  long  line  of  judges — forty-two  in  number — 
sit  arrayed  as  the  final  arbiters  of  his  fate — each  with  his 
question,  on  the  answer  to  which  may  depend  the  destiny  of 
the  departed  soul. 

The  "  Book  of  the  Dead  "  (copies  of  which  are  still  found 
wrapped  up  with  mummies :  several  are  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum) gives  the  answers  to  be  made  to  these  searching  ques- 
tions, and  also  the  prayers  to  be  ofltered,  and  the  hymns  thai " 


EGYPTIAN   DOCTKmE   OF   A   FUTUKE   LIFE.  41 

are  to  be  sung,  as  the  soul  enters  the  gloomy  shades  of  the 
under- world. 

In  this  Egyptian  doctrine  of  a  future  life  there«are  Chris- 
tian ideas.  Some  indeed  will  say  that  Egypt  gave  rather 
than  received ;  that  she  was  the  mother  of  all  learning  and 
all  wisdom  in  the  ancient  world ;  that  the  Greeks  obtained 
their  philosophy  from  her  (for  Plato  as  well  as  Pythagoras 
studied  in  Egypt) ;  that  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  came  from 
Africa ;  that  Moses  here  found  what  he  taught  the  Hebrews ; 
and  that  even  the  Christian  mysteries  and  the  Christian  faith 
came  from  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 

There  is  certainly  much  food  for  reflection  in  this  reappear- 
ance of  certain  religious  ideas  in  different  countries  and  under, 
different  forms.  But  there  is  a  contrast  as  well  as  a  resem- 
blance. While  the  Hebrews  learned  so  much  from  the 
Egyptians,  it  is  very  remarkable  that  they  did  not  imbibe 
that  strong  faith  in  the  reality  of  the  invisible  world,  which 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  religion.  One  would  suppose  that 
the  Israelites,  coming  out  of  Egypt,  would  be  full  of  these 
thoughts,  and  of  the  hopes  and  fears  of  a  life  to  come.  Yet 
in  all  the  books  of  Moses,  rarely,  if  ever,  are  these  motives 
addressed  to  the  Hebrews.  The  German  critics  argue  from 
this  that  the  Hebrews  did  not  believe  in  another  life.  The 
late  Dr.  Edward  Robinson,  the  distinguished  Hebrew  scholar, 
said  that  he  could  not  find  that  doctrine  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Without  admitting  such  an  extreme  view,  it  is  cer- 
tainly remarkable  that  that  idea  is  much  less  prominent  in 
the  Old  Testament  than  in  the  New.  It  is  not  Moses,  but 
Christ  who  has  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light. 

But  the  Egyptian  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  while  very  cu- 
rious and  interesting  as  a  study  of  ancient  belief,  is  utterly 
unsatisfying.  The  ideas  are  detached  and  fragmentary,  and 
wholly  without  evidence  or  authority  ;  they  are  merely  the 
crude  fancies  of  mythology,  and  not  the  precise  teachings  of 
Revelation.     And  so  in  all  the  tombs  and  temples  of  Egypt 


42  EGYPTIAN   DOOTKINE   OF    A    FUTURE   LIFE. 

there  is  nothing  which  can  relieve  the  doubts  of  a  troubled 
mind,  or  the  sorrows  of  a  heavy  heart. 

I  have  Jiad  some  sober  thoughts  while  floating  on  the  bosom 
of  the  Nile.  We  cannot  but  see  the  world  through  our  own 
eyes  and  through  our  moods  of  mind.  To  those  who  have 
left  their  dead  beyond  the  sea,  foreign  travel  has  many  sad 
and  lonely  hours.  The  world  seems  cold  and  empty,  and 
even  the  most  religious  mind  is  apt  to  be  haunted  with  gloomy 
thoughts.  This  is  not  a  mood  of  mind  peculiar  to  atheists 
and  unbelievers.  Many  devout  men,  in  seasons  of  mental 
depression,  are  tortured  with  doubts  whether,  after  all,  their 
religious  faith  is  not  a  delusion  and  a  dream. 

And  so  many  dark  and  bitter  questionings  come  tome  here 
in  this  land  of  sepulchres.  I  have  come  to  Egypt  to  learn 
something  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians.  Tell  me  then, 
ye  tombs  and  temples  and  pyramids,  about  God  ;  tell  me 
about  the  life  to  come  !  But  the  Pyramids  speak  not ;  and 
the  Sphinx  still  looks  towards  the  East,  to  watch  for  the  rising 
sun,  but  is  voiceless  and  mute.  This  valley  of  the  Nile 
speaks  of  nothing  but  death.  From  end  to  end  its  rock- 
ribbed  hills  are  filled  with  tombs.  Yet  what  do  they  all 
teach  the  anxious  and  troubled  heart  of  man  ?  Nothing ! 
All  these  hills  are  silent.  Not  a  sound,  or  even  an  echo, 
comes  from  these  dark  sepulchres.  No  voice  of  hope  issues 
out  of  the  caverns  hollowed  in  the  bosom  of  the  hills.  The 
hard  granite  of  the  tombs  itself  is  not  more  deaf  to  the  cry 
of  human  anguish,  or  the  voice  of  supplication. 

I  turn  from  the  monuments  of  man  to  nature.  I  stand 
on  the  bank  of  the  Great  River,  and  ask  if  it  brings  not  some 
secret  out  of  the  heart  of  Africa  ?  Tell  me,  ye  night  winds, 
blowing  from  African  deserts  ;  tell  me,  ye  stars  shining  in  the 
African  heaven  (this  sky  of  Egypt  is  so  pure  and  clear  that 
the  stars  seem  higher  and  more  distant  from  this  lower  world), 
what  light  can  ye  throw  on  this  great  mystery  of  death  ? 
And  the  stars  twinkle,  but  speak  not,  and  the  palm  trees 


CHRISTMAS    AT   THEBES.  43 

quiver  in  the  night  wind,  but  give  no  answer  ;  and  the  great 
Nile  flows  on  silently  to  the  sea,  as  life  flows  on  to  eternity. 
Nature  is  dumb  ;  the  great  secret  is  not  revealed. 

For  the  revelation  of  that  secret  we  turn  not  to  Egypt,  but 
to  Jerusalem.  While  the  Egyptians  groped  darkly  after  the 
truth,  how  do  these  dim  shadows,  these  poor  emblems  and 
analogies,  set  forth  by  contrast  the  clearer  and  better  truth 
of  revelation !  All  that  is  written  on  the  tombs  of  Egypt ; 
all  that  is  carved  in  stone,  or  written  in  hieroglyphics  on  an- 
cient sarcophagi  ;  all  that  is  built  in  temples  and  pyramids  ; 
is  not  worth  that  one  saying  of  our  Lord,  "  I  am  the  Resur- 
rection and  the  Life ;  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he 
were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live." 

We  spent  Christmas  day  at  Thebes,  where  a  number  of 
English  boats  had  drawn  up  to  the  landing  to  keep  the  day, 
so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  Englishmen  throughout  the  world. 
On  Christmas  eve  they  were  decorated  with  palm  branches, 
and  at  night  were  lighted  up  with  Chinese  lanterns,  while 
row-boats  were  floating  about,  the  Arab  boatmen  singing 
their  wild,  plaintive  melodies. 

Christmas  brought  a  scene,  if  not  so  picturesque,  yet  far 
more  sweet  and  tender.  It  had  been  our  good  fortune  to 
meet  there  Rev.  Dr.  Potter  of  New  York,  the  rector  of  Grace 
Church.  He  was  going  up  the  Nile  with  Miss  Wolfe,  of  Mad- 
ison square.  They  were  on  two  dahabeeahs,  but  kept  com- 
pany, and  anchored  every  night  together.  On  Chi'istmas  day 
there  was  a  service  on  board  Miss  Wolfe's  boat,  which  was 
attended  by  all  the  English  parties.  It  was  held  on  the  up- 
per deck,  which  was  spread  with  carpets  and  covered  with 
an  awning  on  the  top  and  sides  to  protect  us  from  the  sun. 
Whether  it  was  the  strange  scene,  occurring  in  a  distant  part 
of  the  world,  or  sad  memories  which  were  recalled  by  these 
anniversary  days,  seldom  has  a  service  touched  me  more.  It 
was  very  sweet  to  hear  the  old,  old  prayers — some  of  them 
almost  as  old  as  Christianity  itself — to  which  we  had  so  often 


44  CHRISTMAS   AT   THEBES. 

listened  in.  other  lands,  and  to  join  with  the  little  company 
in  the  Christmas  hymn  : 

"  Hark !  the  herald  angels  sing, 
Glory  to  the  new-born  King  ; 
Peace  on  earth  and  mercy  mild ; 
God  and  man  are  reconciled." 

Dr.  Potter  read  the  service  in  his  clear,  rich  voice,  following 
it  with  a  sermon  which  was  quite  extempore  and  brief,  but 
so  simple  and  so  appropriate  to  the  day  that  it  went  to  every 
heart.  And  when  at  the  close  was  celebrated  the  commu- 
nion, we  all  felt  how  pleasant  it  was  in  such  a  place,  so  far 
from  home,  in  a  country  surrounded  by  the  ruins  of  the  tem- 
ples of  old  idolatries,  to  join  in  the  worship  of  Him  who  on 
this  day  was  born  to  be  the  Light  and  the  Hope  of  the  world. 
Better  is  this  than  all  that  Egypt  can  teach  us  about  a  life  to 
come. 

And  so  we  turn  from  these  great  temples  and  tombs,  which 
only  mock  our  hopes,  to  Him  who  has  passed  through  the 
grave,  and  lighted  the  way  for  us  to  follow  Him.  Let  schol- 
ars dispute  the  first  intent  of  the  words,  yet  nothing  in  the 
Old  Testament  or  the  New,  more  distinctly  expresses  what  I 
rest  upon  than  this  :  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth  and 
that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth ;  and 
though  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see 
God !  " 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   RELIGION   OF   THE   PROPHET. 

In  a  review  of  the  faiths  of  Egypt,  one  cannot  overlook 
that  which  has  ruled  in  the  land  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years,  and  still  rules,  not  only  in  Egypt,  but  over  a  large 
part  of  Asia  and  Africa.  We  arrived  in  Cairo  a  few  days 
too  late  to  witness  the  departure  of  the  pilgrims  for  Mecca. 
Once  in  the  year  there  is  a  gathering  of  the  faithful  for  a 
journey  which  is  the  event  of  their  lives.  The  spectacle  is 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  the  East,  as  a  long  procession, 
mounted  on  camels,  many  of  which  are  richly  caparisoned, 
files  through  the  streets  of  the  city,  amid  the  admiring  gaze 
of  the  whole  population,  and  takes  the  way  of  the  desert. 
Slowly  it  moves  Eastward  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  passing 
around  it,  turns  South  to  the  heart  of  the  Arabian  Peninsula. 

A  caravan  of  pilgrims  crossing  the  desert  to  visit  the  birth- 
place of  the  prophet,  is  a  proof  that  religious  enthusiasm  still 
lives  even  in  this  unbelieving  age.  Perhaps  the  Moslem 
spirit  is  not  so  bigoted  here  as  at  Constantinople.  The  Turk, 
with  his  heavy  stolid  nature,  is  a  more  obstinate  religionist 
than  the  Arab.  And  yet  Mohammed  "was  not  a  Turk ;  he 
was  an  Arab,  and  the  faith  which  he  taught  still  fires  the 
heart  of  his  race. 

In  one  view  Cairo  may  be  considered  the  capital  of  Islam, 
as  it  is  the  seat  of  the  great  University,  from  which  its 
priests  go  forth  to  all  parts  of  the  Mohammedan  world. 
This  University  is  nine  hundred  years  old — older  than  Ox- 
ford, and  still  flourishes  with  as  much  vigor  as  in  the  palmy 


i'6  GREAT    UNIVEESITY    AT   CAIRO. 

days  of  the  Arabian  conquest.  A  visit  to  it  is  the  most 
interesting  sight  in  Cairo.  There  I  saw  collected  together — 
not  one  hundred  or  two  hundred  students,  such  as  are  found 
in  our  Theological  Seminaries  in  America — but  ten  thou- 
sand !  As  one  expressed  it,  "  there  were  two  acres  of  turbans," 
assembled  in  a  vast  inclosure,  with  no  floor  but  a  pavement, 
and  with  a  roof  over  it,  supported  by  four  hundred  columns, 
and  at  the  foot  of  every  column  a  teacher,  surrounded  by 
pupils,  who  sat  at  his  feet  precisely  as  Paul  sat  at  the  feet 
of  Gamaliel.  As  we  entered  there  rose  a  hum  of  thousands 
of  voices,  reciting  the  Koran,  These  students  are  not  only 
from  Egypt,  but  from  all  parts  of  Africa,  from  Morocco  to 
Zanzibar.  They  come  from  far  up  the  Nile,  from  Nubia 
and  Soudan ;  and  from  Darfour  beyond  the  Great  Desert, 
and  from  the  western  coast  of  Africa.  Asia  too  is  largely 
represented  in  students  both  from  Western  Asia,  from 
Turkey,  Arabia,  and  Persia ;  and  from  Central  Asia,  from 
Khiva  and  Bokhara,  and  Turkistan  and  Afghanistan,  and 
the  borders  of  China.  They  come  without  stafi"  or  scrip. 
There  is  no  endowment  to  support  them ;  no  Students'  Fund 
or  Education  Board.  They  live  on  the  charities  of  the  faith- 
ful, and  when  their  studies  are  ended,  those  who  are  to  be 
missionaries  on  this  continent  mount  their  camels,  and  join- 
ing a  caravan,  cross  the  Desert,  and  are  lost  in  the  far 
interior  of  Africa. 

This  strange  sight  has  set  me  a-thinking,  and  the  more 
I  think,  the  more  the  wonder  grows.  A  religion  that  sup- 
ports great  universities  from  generation  to  generation ;  and 
that  sends  forth  caravans,  that  are  like  armies,  on  long  pil- 
grimages, is  not  dead ;  it  is  full  of  life,  and  can  bring  into  the 
field  tremendous  forces  to  uphold  its  empire  in  the  East. 
What  is  the  secret  of  its  power,  by  which  it  lives  on  from 
century  to  century,  and  seems  as  if  it  could  not  but  by  anni- 
hilating die  ?  There  is  no  question  of  more  interest  to  the 
historical  student ;  and  no  one  which  it  is  more  necessary  to 


THE   STRENGTH    OF   ISLAM.  47 

understand  in  order  to  form  some  just  idea  of  the  great 
Eastern  War  which  is  already  looming  above  the  horizon. 
A  full  recognition  of  that  which  is  good  in  Islam,  and  of  that 
which  gives  it  power,  would  prevent  many  mistakes  in  fore- 
casting the  future,  although  it  might  abate  the  sanguine  con- 
fidence of  our  missionary  friends  in  the  speedy  triumph  of 
Christianity  over  its  hereditary  foe. 

First  of  all,  we  must  recognize  the  fact  of  its  existence  as 
one  of  the  great  religions  of  the  world.  The  number  of  its 
adherents  is  variously  estimated  at  from  a  hundred  and  fifty 
to  a  hundred  and  eighty  millions.  It  holds  but  a  comer  of 
Europe,  but  extends  its  empire  over  a  large  part  of  Asia  and 
Africa.  The  whole  of  Africa  which  is  not  Pagan,  is  Moslem. 
In  Asia  Islam  disputes  the  sway  of  Hindooism  in  India, 
where  the  Queen  has  more  Moslem  subjects  than  the  Siiltan 
himself,  and  of  Buddhism  in  the  islands  of  the  Malayan 
Archipelago.  Over  so  large  a  part  of  the  earth's  surface  is 
extended  the  wide  dominion  of  the  Prophet.  His  followers 
number  one-tenth,  perhaps  one-eighth,  or  even  one-sixth  part 
of  the  human  race. 

Nor  is  this  dominion  a  merely  nominal  thing.  On  the 
contrary,  the  true  believers  ai-e  strong  believers.  It  may 
well  be  doubted,  whether  among  the  nations  nominally 
Christian  the  mass  of  the  people  really  believe  with  half  the 
firmness  and  the  fervor  of  Mussulmans.  The  Moslems  are  as 
sincere,  and  in  their  way  as  devout,  as  the  adherents  of  any 
religion  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  No  one  can  enter  the 
mosque  of  St.  Sophia,  and  see  the  worshippers  turning  their 
faces  towards  Mecca,  not  only  kneeling  but  prostrating  them- 
selves, touching  the  pavement  with  their  foreheads,  and  re- 
peating, in  a  low,  mournful  tone,  passages  from  the  Koi-an, 
without  feeling  that  these  men  really  believe.  Those  pros- 
trate forms,  those  wailing  voices,  are  not  the  signs  of  hypoc- 
risy, but  of  a  faith  that,  however  mistaken,  is  at  least  sincere. 
In  their  own  minds  they  are  in  the  presence  of  the  Highest, 


48  ITS   AHSSIONAEY    ZEAL. 

and  offer  worship  to  the  unseen  God.  Indeed  they  are  more 
than  believers,  they  are  zealots,  carrying  their  faith  to  fanat- 
icism. A  body  so  vast  in  number,  composed  of  such  fierce 
religionists,  is  certainly  a  great  power  in  the  political  and 
military,  as  well  as  religious,  forces,  that  are  yet  to  contend 
for  the  mastery  of  the  Eastern  world. 

Nor  is  this  power  inactive  in  spreading  its  faith ;  it  is  full 
of  missionary  zeal.  Max  Miiller  divides  all  the  religions  of 
the  world  into  proselyting  and  non-proselyting.  Moham- 
medanism belongs  to  the  former  class  as  much  as  Christianity. 
The  days  are  past  when  the  followers  of  the  Prophet  swept 
over  large  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa,  converting  tribes  and 
nations  by  the  sword.  And  yet  even  at  the  present  day  it 
keeps  up  a  Propaganda  as  vigorous  as  that  of  the  Catholics 
at  Rome.  Its  university  here  is  training  ten  thousand  young 
apostles.  Moslem  missionaries  preach  the  Koran,  and  make 
proselytes,  in  all  parts  of  India.  But  the  chief  field  of  their 
labors  is  in  Africa,  where  they  have  penetrated  far  into  the 
interior,  and  converted  numerous  tribes  to  the  faith.  It  is 
difficult  to  obtain  accurate  statistics  in  regard  to  the  spread 
of  Islam  in  Africa.  Livingstone  thought  the  repoi-ts  greatly 
exaggerated.  That  is  quite  possible,  and  yet,  making  every 
allowance,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  has  obtained  a  suc- 
cess much  greater  than  that  of  Chi'istian  missions. 

A  religion  which  has  such  a  foundation  on  the  solid  earth, 
holding  nations  and  empires  in  its  wide  dominion ;  and  which 
has  such  a  history,  stretching  over  twelve  centuries  ;  is  a  sub- 
ject worthy  the  closest  attention  of  scholars.  Its  history  is 
not  unlike  that  of  Christianity  itself,  in  the  feebleness  of  its 
beginning  and  the  greatness  of  its  results.  It  started  in  an 
obscure  corner  of  the  world — in  the  deserts  of  Arabia — and 
rapidly  conquered  the  East,  overrunning  all  the  adjacent 
parts  of  Asia  and  Africa,  and  extending  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  thence  crossed  into 
Spain,  where  it  maintained  itself  for  eight  hundred  years 


THE   CHARACTER   OF   MOHAMMED.  49 

against  all  the  power  of  Europe  to  expel  it.  Such  conquests 
show  a  prodigious  vitality — a  vitality  not  yet  exhausted,  as 
it  still  holds  the  half  of  Asia  and  Africa.  A  faith  which 
commands  the  allegiance  of  so  large  a  part  of  mankind  must 
have  some  elements  of  truth  to  give  it  such  tremendous 
power.  Perhaps  we  can  find  the  key  in  the  character  of  its 
Founder,  and  in  the  faith  which  he  taught. 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  about  the  life  of  Moham- 
med, but  even  yet  his  character  is  imperfectly  understood. 
Perhaps  we  cannot  fully  understand  it,  for  there  are  in  it 
contradictions  which  perplex  the  most  patient  and  candid 
student.  By  many  he  is  dismissed  at  once  as  a  vulgar  im- 
postor, a  sort  of  Joe  Smith,  who  invented  monstrous  lies,  and 
by  stoutly  sticking  to  them  got  others  to  believe  in  them,  and 
as  soon  as  he  rallied  a  few  followers  about  him,  compelled 
neighboring  tribes  to  accept  his  faith  by  the  unsparing  use 
of  the  sword. 

This  is  an  easy  way  to  get  rid  of  a  difficult  historical  ques- 
tion, but  unfortunately  it  does  not  explain  the  facts.  It  is 
by  that  sort  of  cheap  reasoning  that  Gibbon  undertakes  to 
explain  the  i-apid  spread  of  Christianity.  But  if  Mohammed 
had  been  a  cunning  impostor,  his  first  claim  would  have  been 
to  work  miracles,  which  on  the  contrary  he  never  claimed  at 
all,  but  distinctly  repudiated.  Nor  was  he  a  greedy  merce- 
nary;  he  was  a  poor  man;  his  folio wei-s  relate  with  pride 
how  he  mended  his  own  clothes,  and  even  pegged  his  own 
shoes.  But  he  combined  every  element  of  the  visionary  and 
the  enthusiast.  He  had  that  vivid  imagination  that  con- 
ceives strongly  of  things  invisible  to  the  natural  sense,  to 
which  "things  that  are  not  become  as  things  that  are,"  and  that 
ardent  temperament  that  kindles  at  the  sight  of  these  unseen 
realities.  Perhaps  this  temperament  was  connected  with  his 
bodily  constitution ;  from  his  youth  he  was  subject  to  epilep- 
tic fits,  and  his  revelations  were  accompanied  with  convul- 
sions. Such  things  are  found  in  other  religions.  They  are 
3 


50  NOT    AN    IMPOSTOR,    BUT   A    FANATIC. 

quite  common  in  the  history  of  devout  and  passionate  Roman- 
ists. Nor  are  they  unknown  even  among  Protestants,  who 
profess  to  be  more  sober  and  rational.  Among  the  Metho- 
dists, at  camp-meetings,  a  very  frequent  effect  of  religious 
emotion  has  been  that  strong  men  were  so  prostrated  thiit 
they  fell  to  the  ground  and  became  as  dead,  and  when  they 
recovered,  retained  impressions  never  to  be  effaced,  as  if  they 
had  seen  things  which  it  was  not  lawful  to  utter.  The  reve- 
lations of  Mohammed  were  all  accompanied  by  these  "  phy- 
sical manifestations."  Sometimes  the  angel  spoke  to  liim  as 
one  man  to  another ;  at  other  times  something  within  his 
bosom  sounded  like  a  bell,  which  he  said  "rent  him  in 
pieces."  At  such  times  he  fell  to  the  ground  and  foamed  at 
the  mouth,  or  his  eyes  tvirned  red,  and  he  streamed  with  per- 
spiration, and  roared  like  a  camel,  in  his  struggle  to  give 
utterance  to  the  revelation  of  God.  This  does  not  look  like 
imposture,  but  like  insanity.  The  constitution  of  such  a  man 
is  a  psychological  study. 

This  natural  ardor  was  inflamed  by  long  seclusion.  From 
his  youth  he  loved  solitude.  Like  the  old  prophets,  he  with- 
drew from  the  world  to  be  alone  with  God.  Like  Elijah,  he 
hid  himself  in  a  cave.  Every  year,  during  the  month  of 
Ramadan,  he  retired  to.  a  cave  in  Mount  Hera,  three  miles 
from  Mecca,  to  give  himself  up  to  religious  contemplation ; 
and  there,  it  is  said,  amid  spasmodic  convulsions,  he  had  his 
first  vision,  in  which  the  angel  Gabriel  appeared  to  him. 

This  explanation  of  a  mind  half  disordered,  subject  to 
dreams  and  visions  and  fanatical  illusions,  is  much  more 
rational  than  that  of  supposing  in  him  an  artful  design  to 
impose  a  new  religion  on  his  countrymen.  Like  other  en- 
thusiasts, he  became  the  victim  of  his  own  illusions.  His 
imagination  so  wrought  upon  him  that  he  came  to  accept  his 
visions  as  Divine  revelations.  In  this  he  was  not  playing  a 
part;  he  was  not  the  conscious  hyprocrite.  No  dovibt  he 
believed  himself  what  he  wished  others  to  believe.     Indeed 


ISLAM   DERIVED   FEOM   JUDAISM.  51 

he  made  them  believe,  by  the  very  sincerity  and  intensity  ot 
his  own  convictions. 

Mohammedanism  may  be  considered  as  a  system  of  theol- 
ogy, and  as  a  system  of  morality.  The  former  seems  to  have 
been  derived  largely  from  Judaism.  IVIohammed  belonged  to 
the  tribe  of  the  Koreishites,  who  claimed  to  be  descended  from 
Abraham  through  Ishmael.  His  family  were  the  keepers  of 
the  Caaba,  or  holy  place  of  Mecca,  where  is  the  black  stone 
which  was  brought  from  heaven,  and  the  spring  Zemzem, 
which  sprang  up  in  the  desert  to  save  the  life  of  Hagar  and 
her  child.  Thus  he  was  familiar  from  his  earliest  years  with 
the  traditions  of  the  patriarchs. 

When  a  boy  of  fourteen  he  made  a  journey  with  his  uncle 
into  Syria,  where  he  may  have  learned  more  of  the  ancient 
faith.  Much  is  said  of  his  becoming  acquainted  with  a  Nes- 
torian  bishop  or  monk,  from  whom  he  is  supposed  to  have 
learned  something  of  Christianity.  But  he  could  not  have 
learned  much,  for  his  views  of  it  wei'e  always  extremely  vague. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  he  ever  saw  the  New  Testament,  or  had 
any  knowledge  of  it  other  than  that  derived  from  some  apocry- 
phal books.  There  is  no  trace  in  the  Koran  of  the  sublime 
docti-ines  of  the  Gospel,  or  even  of  its  moral  precepts.  Al- 
though Mohammed  professed  great  reverence  for  Jesus,  whom 
with  Moses  he  considers  the  greatest  of  prophets  next  to  him- 
self, yet  his  ideas  of  the  Religion  which  He  taught  were  of  the 
most  indefinite  kind. 

But  one  thing  he  did  learn,  which  was  common  to  Judaism 
and  Christianity — that  there  is  but  one  God.  The  Mono- 
theism of  the  Hebrews  took  the  stronger  hold  of  him,  from  its 
contrast  to  the  worship  around  him,  whicli  had  degenerated 
into  gross  idolatry.  The  tribes  of  Arabia  had  become  as  base 
idolaters  as  the  Canaanites.  Even  the  holy  Caaba  was  filled 
with  idols,  and  the  mission  of  the  prophet — as  he  regarded 
it — was  to  restore  the  worship  of  the  One  Living  and  True 
God.     His  first  burst  of  prophetic  fii'e  and  prophetic  wrath 


52  THE   MOSLEM   CKEED. 

Wiis  a  fierce  explosion  against  idolatry,  and  it  was  a  moment  of 
triumph  when  he  was  able  to  walk  through  the  Caaba,  and  see 
the  idols  dashed  in  pieces. 

Here  then  is  the  first  and  last  truth  of  Islam,  the  existence 
of  one  God.  The  whole  is  comprehended  in  this  one  saying, 
"  God  is  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet." 

With  the  homage  due  to  God,  is  the  respect  due  to  His 
revealed  will.  Moslems  claim  for  the  Koran  what  many 
Christians  do  not  claim  for  the  Bible — a  literal  and  verbal 
inspiration.     Every  word  is  Divine. 

And  not  only  is  the  unity  of  God  the  cardinal  truth,  but 
it  is  vital  to  salvation.  In  this  respect  Islam  is  a  Religion. 
It  is  not  a  mere  philosophy,  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of 
which  is  a  matter  of  indifierence.  It  is  not  merely  a  system 
of  good  morals — it  is  a,  Divine  code  for  the  government  of 
mankind,  whose  acceptance  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death — of 
salvation  or  damnation. 

The  doctrine  of  retribution  is  held  by  the  Moslems  in  its 
most  rigid  form — more  rigid  indeed  than  in  the  Christian 
system:  for  there  is  no  atonement  for  sin.  The  judgment  is 
inexorable ;  it  is  absolute  and  eternal.  Before  their  eyes 
ever  stands  the  Day  of  Judgment — the  Dies  Ii'se — when  all 
men  shall  appear  before  God  to  receive  their  doom. 

But  in  that  last  day,  when  unbelievers  shall  be  destroyed, 
the  followers  of  the  prophet  shall  be  saved.  They  can  go  to 
the  tribunal  of  their  Maker  without  trembling.  One  day  rid- 
ing outside  the  walls  of  Constantinople,  we  approached  a 
cemetery  just  as  a  fimei-al  procession  drew  near,  beariijg  the 
form  of  the  dead.  We  stopped  to  witness  the  scene.  The 
mourners  gathered  around  the  place  where  the  body  was  laid, 
and  then  the  ulema  approached  the  grave,  and  began  an  ad- 
dress to  the  dead,  telling  her  ( it  was  a  woman )  not  to  be 
afraid  when  the  angel  came  to  call  her  to  judgment,  but  to 
appear  before  the  bar  of  the  Almighty,  and  answer  without 
feai',  for  that  no  follower  of  the  prophet  should  perish. 


STRICT   RELIGIOUS   OBSERVANCES.  53 

The  religious  observances  of  the  Moslems  are  very  strict. 
As  God  is  the  sole  object  of  worship,  so  the  great  act  of  Re- 
ligion is  communion  with  Him.  Five  times  a  day  the  voice 
of  the  muezzin  calls  them  to  prayer.  The  frequent  ablu- 
tions were  perhaps  derived  from  the  Jewish  law.  Fasting  is 
imposed  with  a  severity  almost  unknown  in  the  Christian 
world.  The  most  rigid  Catholics  hardly  observe  the  forty 
days  of  Lent  as  the  Moslems  do  the  month  of  Ramadan. 
Almsgiving  is  not  only  recommended,  but  required.  Every 
true  believer  is  commanded  to  give  one-tenth  of  his  income 
to  charity. 

As  to  the  moral  results  of  Mohammedanism,  it  produces 
some  excellent  effects.  It  inculcates  the  strictest  temper- 
ance. The  Koran  prohibits  the  use  of  wine,  even  though 
wine  is  one  of  the  chief  products  of  the  East.  In  this  virtue 
of  total  abstinence  the  Moslems  are  an  example  to  Chris- 
tians. 

So  in  point  of  integrity ;  the  honesty  of  the  Turk  is  a  pro- 
verb in  the  East,  compared  with  the  lying  of  Christians. 
Perhaps  this  comes  in  part  not  only  from  his  religion,  but 
from  the  fact  that  he  belongs  to  the  conquering  race.  Ty- 
rants and  masters  do  not  need  to  deceive,  while  falsehood 
and  deceit  are  the  protection  of  slaves.  Subject  races, 
which  have  no  defence  before  the  law,  or  from  cruel  masters, 
seek  it  in  subterfuge  and  decei>tion.  But  this  claim  of  in- 
tegrity may  be  pushed  too  far.  However  it  may  be  in  Asia 
Minor,  among  simple-minded  Turks,  who  have  not  been 
"  spoiled  by  coming  in  contact  with  Christians,"  those  who 
have  to  do  with  Turks  in  the  bazaars  of  Constantinople,  are 
compelled  to  confess,  that  if  they  do  not  tell  lies,  they  tell 
very  big  truths.  However,  as  between  the  Turk  and  the 
Greek,  in  point  of  honesty,  it  is  quite  possible  that  those 
who  know  them  both  would  give  the  preeminence  to  the 
former. 

Whatever  the  weakness  of  Mohammedanism,  it  does  not 


54:  DEMOCEAnC   SPIRIT. 

show  itself  in  that  sort  of  vices.  His  very  pride  makes  the 
Mussulman  scorn  these  meaner  sins.  His  religion,  as  it  lifts 
him  up  with  self-esteem,  produces  an  effect  on  his  outward 
bearing.  He  has  an  air  of  independence  which  is  unmis- 
takable. I  think  I  never  saw  a  Mussulman  that  was  afraid 
to  look  me  in  the  face.  He  has  none  of  the  sneaking  ser- 
vility that  we  see  in  some  races.  This  is  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  his  creed,  according  to  which  God  is  so  great  that 
no  man  is  great  in  his  sight.  Islam  is  at  once  a  theocracy 
and  a  democracy.  God  is  sole  Lawgiver  and  King,  before 
whom  all  men  stand  on  the  same  level.  Hence  men  of  all 
nations  and  races  fraternize  together.  In  Constantinople 
blacks  and  whites,  the  men  of  Circassia  and  the  men  of 
Ethiopia,  walk  arm  in  arm,  and  stand  on  the  level  of  abso- 
lute equality. 

This  democratic  spirit  is  carried  everywhere.  There  is  no 
caste  in  Islam,  not  even  in  India,  where  it  is  at  perpetual 
•war  with  the  castes  of  Hindooism.  So  as  it  spreads  in  the 
interior  of  Africa,  it  raises  the  native  tribes  to  a  degree  of 
manliness  and  self-respect  which  they  had  not  known  before. 
It  "  levels  up "  the  African  race.  Our  missionaries  in 
Liberia,  who  come  in  contact  with  certain  Moslem  tribes 
from  the  interior,  such  as  the  Mandingoes,  will  testify  that 
they  are  greatly  superior  to  those  farther  South,  on  the  Gold 
Coast,  the  Ashantees  and  the  people  of  Dahomey,  who  have 
filled  the  world  with  horror  by  their  human  sacrifices.  All 
this  disappears  before  the  advance  of  Islam.  It  breaks  in 
pieces  the  idols;  it  destroys  devil  worship  and  fetichism  and 
witchcraft,  and  puts  an  end  to  human  sacrifices.  Thus  it 
renders  a  service  to  humanity  and  civilization. 

So  far  Islam  is  a  pretty  good  religion — not  so  good  indeed 
as  Christianity,  but  better  than  any  form  of  Paganism.  It 
has  many  elements  of  truth,  derived  chiefly  from  Judaism. 
So  far  as  Mohammed  followed  Moses — so  far  as  the  Koran 
followed  the  Old  Testament — they  uttered  only  the  truth. 


NO   roEA    OF   GOD    AS   A    FATHER.  55 

and  truth  which  was  fundamental.  The  unity  of  God  is 
the  foundation  of  religion.  It  is  not  only  a  truth,  but  the 
greatest  of  truths,  the  first  condition  of  any  right  religious 
worship.  In  declaring  this,  Mohammed  only  proclaimed  to 
the  Arabs  what  Moses  had  proclaimed  to  the  Hebrews : 
"  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.  "  But  he 
repeated  it  with  great  vehemence  and  effect,  wielding  it  as 
a  battle-axe  to  break  in  pieces  the  idols  of  the  heathen. 
And  so  far — as  against  idolatry — Islam  has  served  a  great 
purpose  in  history.  But  there  its  utility  ends.  It  teaches 
indeed  that  there  is  but  one  God.  But  what  a  God  is  that 
which  it  presents  to  our  worship  !  "  This  God  is  not  our 
God."  The  Mohammedan  idea  of  God  is  very  different  from 
the  Christian  idea  of  a  Father  in  heaven.  It  is  the  idea  of 
the  Awful,  the  Invisible — gi-and  indeed,  yet  cold  and  distant 
and  far  away,  like  the  stars  on  the  desert,  or  in  the  Arctic 
night,  "  wildly,  spiritually  bright,"  shining  with  a  glittering 
splendor,  but  lofty  and  inaccessible,  beyond  the  cries  of 
human  agony  or  despair.  This  view  of  God  is  so  limited 
and  partial  as  to  produce  the  effect  of  positive  error.  In  a 
just  religious  system  there  must  be  included  the  two  ideas  of 
God  and  man ;  and  these  in  their  proper  relation  to  each 
other.  Exclusive  contemplation  of  either  leads  astray. 
When  man  fastens  on  the  idea  of  one  God,  he  plants  him- 
self on  a  rock.  But  he  must  not  bow  himself  upon  the  rock, 
and  clasp  it  so  as  to  forget  his  own  separate  individuality, 
lest  the  mighty  stone  roll  over  upon  him  and  crush  him. 
This  the  Mussulman  does.  He  dwells  so  on  the  idea  of  God, 
that  his  own  existence  is  not  only  lost  sight  of,  but  annihil- 
ated. The  mind,  subdued  in  awe,  is  at  length  overpowered 
by  what  it  beholds.  Man  is  nothing  in  that  awful  presence, 
as  his  life  is  but  a  point  in  the  Divine  eternity. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  idea  of  God,  and  God  alone, 
may  produce  some  grand  effects  on  human  character.  It  in- 
spires courage.     If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ? 


56  FATALISM — MOSLEM   MORALITY. 

That  God  is  for  him,  the  Mussulman  never  doubts ;  and  this 
confidence  inspires  him  in  danger,  and  on  the  field  of  battle, 
so  that  he  fights  with  desperation.  But  if  the  fortune  of 
war  be  against  him,  who  so  well  as  the  devout  Mussulman 
knows  how  to  suffer  and  to  die?  He  murmurs  not;  but 
bows  his  head,  saying  "  God  is  great,"  and  submits  to  his 
fate.  Thus  his  creed  carried  out  to  its  logical  consequence 
ends  in  fatalism.  He  believes  so  absolutely  in  God,  that 
the  decrees  of  the  Almighty  become  a  fixed  fate,  which  the 
will  of  man  is  impotent  to  resist.  All  this  comes  from  an 
imperfect  idea  of  God.  Here  Islam  is  defective,  just  where 
Christianity  is  complete. 

There  is  nothing  in  Mohammedanism  that  brings  God 
down  to  earth,  within  the  range  of  human  sympathy  or 
even  of  human  conception.  There  is  no  incarnation,  no 
Son  of  God  coming  to  dwell  among  men,  hungry  and  weary, 
bearing  our  griefs  and  carrying  our  sorrows,  suffering  in  the 
garden,  and  dying  on  the  cross. 

The  Mussulman  does  not  feel  his  need  of  such  help.  In 
his  prayers  there  is  no  acknowledgment  of  sin,  no  feeling  of 
penitence,  no  confession  of  unworthiness.  He  knows  not 
how  poor  and  weak  he  is,  with  a  religion  in  which  there 
is  no  Saviour  and  Redeemer,  no  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  no  Holy  Spirit  to  help  our  in- 
firmities, to  strengthen  our  weaknesses. 

So  with  Moslem  morality ;  if  we  scan  it  closely,  we  find 
it  wanting  in  many  virtues.  Some  writers  give  the  most 
elevated  ideas  of  it.  Says  Chambers'  Cyclopaedia  :  "  Aside 
from  the  domestic  relations,  the  ethics  of  the  Mohammedan 
religion  are  of  the  highest  order.  Pride,  calumny,  revenge, 
avarice,  prodigality,  and  debauchery,  are  condemned  through- 
out the  Koran ;  while  trust  in  God,  submission  to  His  will, 
patience,  modesty,  forbearance,  love  of  peace,  sincerity,  fru- 
gality, benevolence,  libei-ality,  are  everywhere  insisted  upon." 

This   is   very    high    praise.       But   mark    the   exception : 


THE   DEGRADATION    OF     WOltAN.  57 

"Aside  from  the  domestic  relations."  That  exception  takes 
out  of  the  system  a  whole  class  of  virtues,  and  puts  a  class 
of  vices  in  their  place.  Here  is  the  great  crime  of  Islam 
against  humanity — its  treatment  of  woman.  We  will  not 
charge  against  it  more  than  belongs  to  it.  The  seclusion  of 
woman  is  not  a  Mohammedan  custom  so  much  as  an  Ox'iental 
one,  and  one  of  a  very  ancient  date.  When  Abraham  sent 
a  servant  to  find  a  wife  for  Isaac,  and  he  returned  bringing 
Rebekah,  as  the  caravan  drew  near  home,  and  Isaac  went 
out  to  meditate  at  eventide,  as  soon  as  Kebekah  saw  him  in 
the  distance,  she  lighted  off  from  her  camel  and  "  veiled  her- 
self." Polygamy  too  existed  before  Mohammed  :  it  existed 
among  the  patriarchs.  It  is  claimed  that  Mohammed  re- 
pressed it,  limiting  a  man  to  four  wives,  although  he  far 
exceeded  the  number  himself.  Gibbon,  who  never  misses 
an  opportunity  of  making  a  point  against  the  Bible,  says : 
"  If  we  remember  the  seven  hundred  wives  and  three  hundred 
concubines  of  the  wise  Solomon,  we  shall  applaud  the  modesty 
of  the  Arabian  who  espoused  no  more  than  seventeen  or 
fifteen  wives."  But  this  pretence  of  self-restraint  is  a 
mockery.  It  is  notorious  that  Mohammed  was  a  man  of  the 
grossest  licentiousness  ;  and  the  horrible  and  disgusting  thing 
about  it  is  that  he  grew  more  wicked  as  he  grew  older  ;  and 
while  trying  to  put  restraint  upon  others  put  none  upon 
himself.  He  punished  licentiousness  with  a  hundred  stripes, 
and  adultery  with  death,  and  yet  he  was  a  man  of  unbounded 
profligacy,  and  to  make  it  worse,  pleaded  a  Divine  revelation 
to  justify  it ! 

This  example  of  the  prophet  has  had  its  influence  on  all 
the  generations  of  his  followers.  It  has  trailed  the  slime  of 
the  serpent  over  them  all.  Any  one  who  has  been  in  a 
Mohammedan  country  must  have  felt  that  the  position  of 
woman  is  a  degi'adation.  One  cannot  see  them  gliding  through 
the  streets  of  Cairo  or  Constantinople,  with  their  faces  vail- 
ed as  if  it  were  a  shame  to  look  on  them,  and  passing  swiftly 
3* 


68  CRUELTY  OF  TURKS  AND  ARABS. 

as  if  indeed  it  were  a  sin  for  them  to  be  seen  abroad,  with- 
out a  feeling  of  pity  and  indignation. 

And  in  what  a  position  are  such  women  at  home,  if  it  can 
be  called  a  home,  where  there  is  no  family,  no  true  domestic 
life  1  The  wife  of  a  Mohammedan  — the  mother  of  his  chil- 
dren— is  little  better  than  a  slave.  She  is  never  presented  to 
his  friends — indeed  you  could  not  offer  a  greater  insult  to  a 
Turk  than  to  ask  after  his  wife !  Of  course  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  society  where  women  are  not  allowed  to  appear. 
Such  a  society  as  that  of  London  or  Paris,  composed  of  men 
eminent  in  government,  in  science  and  literature — a  society 
refined  and  elevated  by  the  presence  of  women  of  such  edu- 
cation and  manners  and  knowledge  of  the  world  as  to  be  the 
fit  companions  of  such  men — could  not  possibly  exist  in  Con- 
stantinople. 

But  the  degradation  of  woman  is  not  the  only  crime  to  be 
charged  to  Islam.  In  fit  companionship  with  it  is  cruelty. 
Mohammed  had  many  virtues,  but  he  had  no  mercy.  He 
"was  implacable  toward  his  enemies.  He  massacred  his  prison- 
ers, not  from  hard  necessity,  but  with  a  fierce  delight.  Fan- 
aticism extinguished  natural  compassion,  and  he  put  his  ene- 
mies to  death  with  savage  joy.  In  this  his  followers  have 
**  bettered  his  instructions."  The  Turks  are  cruel,  perhaps 
partly  by  nature,  but  partly  also  because  any  tender  sympa- 
thies of  nature  are  kept  down  by  a  fiery  zeal.  Their  religion 
does  not  make  them  merciful.  When  a  people  have  become 
possessed  with  the  idea  that  they  are  the  people  of  God,  and 
that  others  are  outcasts,  they  become  insensible  to  the  suffer- 
ings of  those  outside  of  the  consecrated  pale. 

In  the  Greek  Revolution  the  people  of  Scio  joined  in  the 
rebellion.  A  Turkish  army  landed  on  the  island,  and  in  two 
months  put  23,000  of  the  inhabitants  to  the  sword,  without 
distinction  of  age  or  sex ;  47,000  were  sold  into  slavery,  and 
5,000  escaped  to  Greece.  In  four  months  the  Christian  pop- 
idation  was  reduced  from  104,000  to  2,000. 


GOOD    GOVERNMENT   mPOSSIBLE.  59 

What  the  Turks  are  in  Europe  and  Asia,  the  Arabs  are  in 
Africa.  The  spread  of  Mohammedanism  is  a  partial  civiliza- 
tion of  some  heathen  tribes.  But,  alas,  the  poor  natives 
come  in  contact  with  "  civilization  "  and  "  religion  "  in  an- 
other way — in  the  Arab  slave-huuters,  who,  though  they  are 
Mohammedans,  and  devoutly  pray  toward  Mecca,  are  the 
most  merciless  of  human  beings.  One  cannot  read  the  pages 
of  Livingstone  without  a  shudder  at  the  barbarities  practised 
on  defeuceless  natives,  which  have  spread  terror  and  desola- 
tion over  a  large  part  of  the  interior  of  Africa. 

These  cruel  memories  rise  up  to  spoil  the  poetry  and  ro- 
mance which  some  modern  writers  have  thrown  about  the  re- 
ligion of  the  prophet.  They  disturb  my  musings,  when  awed 
or  touched  by  some  features  of  Moslem  faith;  when  I  listen 
to  the  worship  in  St.  Sophia,  or  witness  the  departure  of 
pilgrims  for  Mecca.  Whatever  Oriental  pomp  or  splendor 
may  still  survive  in  its  ancient  worship,  at  its  heart  the  sys- 
tem is  cold,  and  hard,  and  cruel ;  it  does  not  acknowledge  the 
brotherhood  of  man,  but  exalts  the  followers  of  the  prophet 
into  a  caste,  who  can  look  down  on  the  rest  of  mankind 
with  ineflFable  scorn.  Outside  of  that  pale,  man  is  not  a 
brother,  but  an  enemy — an  enemy  not  to  be  won  by  love,  but 
to  be  conquered  and  subdued,  to  be  made  a  convert  or  a 
slave.  Not  only  does  the  Koran  not  bid  mercy  to  be  shown 
to  unbelievei's,  but  it  offers  them,  as  the  only  alternatives, 
conversion,  or  slavery,  or  death. 

Needs  it  any  argument  to  show  how  impossible  is  good 
government  under  a  creed  in  which  there  is  no  recognition 
of  justice  and  equality  ?  I  think  it  is  Macaulay  who  says 
that  the  worst  Christian  government  is  better  than  the  best 
Mohammedan  government.  Wherever  that  religion  exists, 
there  follow  inevitably  despotism  and  slavery,  by  which  it 
crushes  man,  as  by  its  polygamy  and  organized  licentiousness, 
it  degrades  and  crushes  woman.  Polygamy,  despotism,  and 
slavery  form  the  trinity  of  woes  which  Mohammedanism  has 


60  WILL   THE    CRESCENT    EVER    WANE? 

caused  to  weigh  for  ages,  like  a  nightmare,  on  the  whole 
Eastern  world.  Such  a  system  is  as  incompatible  with 
civilization  as  with  Christianity,  and  sooner  or  later  must  pass 
away,  unless  the  hiiman  race  is  to  come  to  a  standstill,  or  to 
go  backward. 

But  when  and  how?  1  am  not  sanguine  of  any  speedy 
change.  Such  changes  come  slowly.  We  expect  too  mvich 
and  too  soon.  In  an  age  of  progress  we  think  that  all  forma 
of  ignorance  and  superstition  must  disappear  before  the  ad- 
vance of  civilization.  But  the  vis  inertice  opposes  a  steady 
resistance.  It  has  been  well  said,  "  We  are  told  that  know- 
ledge is  power,  but  who  has  considered  the  power  of  igno- 
rance ?  "  How  long  it  lives  and  how  hard  it  dies  !  We  hear 
much  of  the  "  waning  crescent,"  but  it  wanes  very  slowly,  and 
it  sometimes  seems  as  if  the  earth  itself  would  grow  old  and 
perish  before  that  waning  orb  would  disappear  from  the 
heavens.  Christian  Missions  make  no  more  impression  upon 
Islam  than  the  winds  of  the  desert  upon  the  cliffs  of  Mount 
Sinai. 

I  do  not  look  for  any  great  change  in  the  Mohammedan 
world,  except  in  the  train  of  political  changes.  That  religion 
is  so  bound  up  with  political  power,  that  until  that  is  de- 
stroyed, or  terribly  shaken,  there  is  little  hope  of  a  general 
turning  to  a  better  faith.  War  and  Revolution  are  the  fiery 
chariots  that  must  go  before  the  Gospel,  to  herald  its  coming 
and  prepare  its  way.  Material  forces  may  open  the  door  to 
moral  influences ;  the  doctrines  of  human  freedom  and  of 
human  brotherhood  may  be  preached  on  battle  plains  as  well 
as  in  Christian  temples.  When  the  hard  iron  crust  of  Islam 
is  broken  up,  and  the  elements  begin  to  melt  with  fervent 
heat,  the  Eastern  world  may  be  moulded  into  new  forms. 
Then  will  the  Oriental  mind  be  brought  into  an  impressible 
state,  in  which  argument  and  persuasion  can  act  upon  it ; 
and  it  may  yield  to  the  combined  influence  of  civilization  and 
Christianity.     The  change  will  be  slow.     It  will  take  years ; 


THE   FUTURE   PILGRIMAGE.  61 

it  may  take  centuries.  But  sooner  or  later  the  fountains  of 
the  great  deep  will  be  broken  up.  That  cold,  relentless  sys- 
tem must  pass  away  before  the  light  and  warmth  of  that  milder 
faitli  which  recognizes  at  once  the  brotherhood  of  man  and 
the  fatherhood  of  God. 

In  that  coming  age  there  may  be  other  pilgrimages  and 
processions  going  up  out  of  Egypt.  "  The  dromedaries  shall 
come  from  far."  But  then,  if  a  caravan  of  pilgrims  issues 
from  Cairo,  to  cross  the  desert,  to  seek  the  birthplace  of  the 
founder  of  its  religion,  it  will  not  turn  South  to  Mecca,  but 
North  to  Bethlehem,  asking  with  the  Magi  of  old,  "  Where 
is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ?  for  we  have  seen  his 
star  in  the  East,  and  are  come  to  worship  him." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MODEBN  EGYPT  AND  THE  KHEDIVE. 

Egypt  is  a  country  with  a  long  past,  as  we  found  in  going 
up  the  Nile ;  may  we  not  hope,  also,  with  a  not  inglorious 
future  ?  For  ages  it  was  sunk  so  low  that  it  seemed  to  be 
lost  from  the  view  of  the  world.  No  contrast  in  history 
could  be  greater  than  that  between  its  ancient  glory  and  its 
modern  degradation.  Its  revival  dates  from  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  century,  and,  strange  to  say,  from  the 
invasion  of  Egypt  by  Napoleon,  which  incidentally  brought 
to  the  surface  a  man  whose  rise  from  obscurity,  and  whose 
subsequent  career,  were  only  less  remarkable  than  his  own. 
When  Napoleon  landed  in  Egypt  at  the  head  of  a  French 
army  of  invasion,  among  the  forces  gathered  to  oppose  him 
was  a  young  Albanian,  who  had  crossed  over  from  Greece  at 
the  head  of  three  hundred  men.  This  was  Mehemet  AU, 
who  soon  attracted  such  attention  by  his  daring  and  ability, 
that  a  few  years  after  the  French  had  been  driven  out,  as  the 
country  was  still  in  a  distracted  state,  which  required  a  man  of 
vigor  and  capacity,  he  was  made  Pasha  of  Egypt — a  position 
which  he  retained  from  that  time  (1806)  until  his  death  in 
1850.  Here  he  had  new  dangers,  which  he  faced  with  the 
same  intrepidity.  That  which  first  made  his  name  known 
to  the  world  as  a  synonym  of  resolute  courage  and  implaca- 
ble revenge,  was  the  massacre  of  the  Mamelukes.  These 
had  long  been  the  real  masters  of  Egypt — a  terror  to  every 
successive  government,  as  were  the  Janissaries  to  the  Sultan 
in  Constantinople.     Mehemet  Ali  had  been  but  five  years,  in 


MEHEMET   ALL  -  63 

j»ower,  wlion,  finding  that  he  was  becoming  too  strong  for 
them,  they  plotted  to  destroy  him.  He  learned  of  the  con- 
spiracy jnst  in  time,  and  at  once  determined  to  "  fight  fire 
with  fire  ;  "  and,  inviting  them  to  the  Citadel  of  Cairo  for 
some  public  occasion,  suddenly  shut  the  gates,  and  manning 
the  walls  with  his  troops,  shot  them  down  in  cold  blood.  Only 
one  man  escaped  by  leaping  his  horse  from  the  wall.  This 
savage  butchery  raised  a  cry  of  horror  throughout  Europe, 
and  Mehemet  Ali  was  regaided  as  a  monster  of  treachery 
and  of  cruelty.  It  is  impossible  to  justify  such  a  deed  by 
any  rules  of  civilized  warfare.  But  this,  it  is  said,  was  not 
civilized  warfare ;  it  was  simply  a  plot  of  assassination  on 
one  side,  forestalled  by  assassination  on  the  other.  I  do  not 
justify  such  reasoning.  And  yet  I  could  not  but  listen  with 
interest  to  Nubar  Pasha  (the  most  eloquent  talker,  as  well 
as  the  most  enlightened  statesman,  of  Egypt),  as  he  defend- 
ed the  conduct  of  his  hero.  He,  indeed,  has  a  hereditary 
allegiance  to  Mehemet  Ali,  which  he  derived  from  his 
uncle,  the  piime  minister.  Said  he :  "  The  rule  of  the 
Mamelukes  was  anarchy  of  the  worst  kind ;  it  was  death  to 
Egypt,  and  it  is  right  to  kill  death."  The  reasoning  is 
not  very  different  from  that  by  which  Mr.  Froude  justifies 
Cromwell's  putting  the  garrison  of  Drogheda  to  the  sword. 
Cex-tainly  in  both  cases,  in  Egypt  as  in  Ireland,  the  end  was 
peace.  From  that  moment  the  terror  of  Mehemet  Ali's  name 
held  the  whole  land  in  awe ;  and  from  one  end  of  the  valley 
of  the  Nile  to  the  other,  there  was  perfect  security.  "  Every 
tree  planted  in  Egypt,"  said  Nubar  Pasha,  "  is  due  to  him ; 
for  till  then  the  people  in  the  country  did  not  dare  to  plant 
a  tree,  for  the  Mamelukes  or  the  wandering  Bedouins  came 
and  pitched  their  tents  under  its  shade,  and  then  robbed  the 
village."  But  now  eveiy  wandering  tribe  that  hovered  on 
the  borders  of  the  desert,  was  struck  with  fear  and  dread, 
and  did  not  dare  to  provoke  a  power  which  knew  no  mercy. 
Hence  the   plantations   of   palms   which   have   sprung   up 


64  MEHEMET   ALL 

around  tlie  Arab  villages,  and  the  beautiful  avenues  of  trees 
which  have  been  planted  along  the  roads. 

lb  is  not  strange  that  such  a  man  soon  became  too  power- 
ful, not  only  for  the  Mamelukes,  but  for  Turkey.  The  Sul- 
tan did  not  like  it  that  one  of  his  subjects  had  "  grown  so 
great,"  and  tried  more  than  once  to  remove  him.  But  the 
servant  had  become  stronger  than  his  master,  and  would  not 
be  removed.  He  raised  a  large  army,  to  which  he  gave  the 
benefit  of  European  discipline,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  invaded  Syria,  and  swept  northward  to  Damascus  and 
Aleppo,  and  was  only  prevented  from  marching  to  Constan- 
tinople by  the  intervention  of  foreign  powers.  It  seems  a 
pity  now  that  France  and  England  interfered.  The  Eastern 
question  might  have  been  nearer  a  solution  to-day,  if  the 
last  blow  to  the  Grand  Turk  had  been  given  by  a  Moslem 
power.  But  at  least  this  was  secured,  that  the  rule  of 
Egypt  was  confirmed  in  the  family  of  Mehemet  Ali,  and  the 
Viceroy  of  Egypt  became  as  fixed  and  irremovable  as  the 
Sultan  himself. 

Mehemet  Ali  died  in  1850,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Ibrahim  Pasha,  who  inherited  much  of  his  father's  vigor. 
Ismail  Pasha,  the  present  Khedive,  is  the  son  of  Ibrahim 
Pasha,  and  grandson  of  Mehemet  Ali.  Thus  he  has  the 
blood  of  warriors  in  his  veins,  with  which  he  has  inherited 
much  of  their  proud  spirit  and  indomitable  will. 

No  ruler  in  the  East  at  the  present  moment  attracts  more 
of  the  attention  of  Europe.  I  am  sorry  to  go  away  from 
Cairo  without  seeing  him.  I  have  had  two  opportunities 
of  being  presented,  though  not  by  any  seeking  or  suggestion 
of  my  own.  But  friends  who  were  in  official  positions  had 
arranged  it,  and  the  time  was  fixed  twice,  but  in  both  cases 
I  had  to  leave  on  the  day  appointed,  once  to  go  up  the  Nile, 
and  the  other  to  embark  at  Suez.  I  cannot  give  therefore  a 
personal  description  of  the  man,  but  can  speak  of  him  only 
from  the  reports  of  others,  among  whom  are  some  who  see 


THE   KHEDIVE.  65 

him  often  and  know  iiim  well.  The  Khedive  has  many 
American  officers  in  his  service,  some  of  them  in  l^igh  com- 
mands (General  Stone  is  at  the  head  of  the  army),  and  these 
are  necessarily  brought  into  intimate  relations  with  him. 
These  officers  I  find  without  exception  very  enthusiastic  in 
their  admiration.  This  is  quite  natural.  They  are  brought 
into  relations  with  him  of  the  most  pleasant  kind.  He 
wants  an  army,  and  they  organize  it  for  him.  They  disci- 
pline his  traops  ;  if  need  be,  they  fight  his  battles.  As  they 
minister  to  his  desire  for  power,  and  for  military  display,  he 
gives  them  a  generous  support.  And  so  both  parties  are 
equally  pleased  with  each  other. 

But  making  full  allowance  for  all  these  prepossessions  in 
his  favor,  there  are  certain  things  in  which  not  only  they, 
but  all  who  know  the  present  ruler  of  Egypt,  agree,  and 
which  therefore  may  be  accepted  without  question,  which 
show  that  he  has  a  natural  force  of  mind  and  character 
which  would  be  remarkable  in  any  man,  and  in  one  of  his 
position  are  still  more  extraordinary.  Though  living  in  a 
palace,  and  surrounded  by  luxury,  he  does  not  pass  his  time 
in  idleness,  but  gives  himself  no  rest,  hardly  taking  time  for 
food  and  sleep.  I  am  told  that  he  is  "  the  hardest- worked 
man  in  Egypt."  He  rises  very  early,  and  sees  his  Ministers 
before  breakfast,  and  supervises  personally  every  department 
of  the  Government  to  such  extent  indeed  as  to  leave  little 
for  others  to  do,  so  that  his  Ministers  are  merely  his  secre- 
taries. He  is  the  government,  Louis  XIY.  could  not  more 
truly  say,  "  I  am  the  State,"  than  can  the  Khedive  of  Egypt, 
so  completely  does  he  absorb  all  its  powers. 

Such  activity  seems  almost  incredible  in  an  Oriental.  It 
would  be  in  a  Turk.  But  Ismail  Pasha  boasts  that  "  he 
has  not  a  drop  of  Turkish  blood  in  his  veins."  It  is  easy  to 
see  in  his  restless  and  active  mind  the  spirit  of  that  fierce 
old  soldier,  Mehemet  All,  though  softened  and  disciplined  by 
an  European  education. 


66  WHAT  HE  HAS  DONE  FOE  EGYPT. 

This  may  be  a  proof  of  great  mental  energy,  but  it  is  not 
necessarily  of  the  highest  wisdom.  The  men  who  accomplish 
most  in  the  world,  are  those  who  use  their  brains  chiefly  to 
plan,  and  who  know  how  to  choose  fit  instruments  to  carry 
out  their  plans,  and  do  not  spend  their  strength  on  petty 
details  which  might  be  done  quite  as  well,  or  even  better, 
by  others. 

The  admirers  of  the  Khedive  point  justly  to  what  he  has 
done  for  Egypt.  Since  he  came  into  power,  the  Suez  Canal 
has  been  completed,  and  is  now  the  highway  for  the  com- 
merce of  Europe  with  India ;  great  harbors  have  been  made 
or  improved  at  Alexandria,  at  Port  Said,  and  at  Suez  ;  canals 
for  irrigation  have  been  dug  here  and  there,  to  carry  over 
the  country  the  fertilizing  waters  of  the  Nile ;  and  railroads 
have  been  cut  across  the  Delta  in  every  direction,  and  one 
is  already  advanced  more  than  two  hundred  miles  up  the 
Nile.  These  are  certainly  great  public  works,  which  justly 
entitle  the  Khedive  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  enlight- 
ened of  modern  rulers. 

But  while  recognizing  all  this,  there  are  other  things 
which  I  see  here  in  Egypt  which  qualify  my  admiration.  I 
cannot  praise  without  reserve  and  many  abatements.  The 
Khedive  has  attempted  too  much,  and  in  his  restless  ac- 
tivity has  undertaken  such  vast  enterprises  that  he  has 
brought  his  country  to  the  verge  of  bankruptcy.  Egypt, 
like  Turkey,  is  in  a  very  bad  way.  She  has  not  indeed  yet 
gone  to  the  length  of  repudiation.  From  this  she  has  been 
saved  for  the  moment  by  the  sale  of  shares  of  the  Suez  Canal 
to  England  for  four  millions  sterling.  But  this  is  only  a  tem- 
porary relief,  it  is  not  a  permanent  cure  for  what  is  a  deep- 
seated  disease.  The  financial  troubles  of  Egypt  are  caused 
by  the  restless  ambition  of  the  Khedive  to  accomplish  in  a 
few  years  the  work  of  a  century  ;  and  to  carry  out  in  an  im- 
poverished country  vast  public  works,  which  would  task  the 
resources  of  the  richest  country  in  Europe.    The  Khedive  has 


ENERGY  NOT  WELL  REGULATED.  67 

the  reputation  abroad  of  being  a  great  ruler,  and  he  certainly 
shows  an  energy  that  is  extraordinary.  But  it  is  not  always 
a  well  regulated  energy.  He  does  too  much.  He  is  a  man  of 
magnificent  designs,  and  projects  public  works  with  the  gran- 
deur of  a  Napoleon.  This  would  be  very  well  if  his  means 
were  at  all  equal  to  his  ambition.  But  his  designs  are  so 
vast  that  they  would  require  the  capital  of  France  or  Great 
Britain,  while  Egypt  is  a  very  poor  country.  It  has  always 
of  course  the  natural  productiveness  of  the  valley  of  the 
Nile,  but  beyond  that  it  has  nothing ;  it  has  no  accumulated 
wealth,  no  great  capitalists,  no  large  private  fortunes,  no 
rich  middle  class,  from  which  to  draw  an  imperial  revenue. 
With  all  that  can  be  wrung  from  the  miserable  fellahs,  taxed 
to  the  utmost  limit  of  endurance,  still  the  expenses  outrun 
enormously  the  income. 

It  is  true  that  Egypt  has  much  more  to  show  for  her 
money  than  Turkey.  If  she  has  gone  deeply  in  debt,  and 
contracted  heavy  foreign  loans,  she  can  at  least -point  to 
great  public  works  for  the  permanent  good  of  Egypt ;  although 
in  the  construction  of  some  of  these  she  has  anticipated, 
if  not  the  wants  of  the  country,  at  least  its  resources  for 
many  years  to  come. 

For  example,  at  the  First  Cataract,  I  found  men  at  work 
upon  a  railroad  that  is  designed  to  extend  to  Khartoum, 
the  capital  of  Soudan,  and  the  point  of  junction  of  the  Blue 
and  the  White  Nile  !  In  the  latter  part  of  its  course  to  this 
point,  it  is  to  cross  the  desert ;  as  it  must  still  farther,  if 
carried  eastward,  as  projected,  to  Massowah  on  the  Red  Sea ! 
These  are  gigantic  projects,  but  about  as  necessary  to  the 
present  commerce  of  Egypt  as  would  be  a  railway  to  the  very 
heart  of  Africa. 

But  all  the  money  has  not  gone  in  this  way.  The  Khedive 
has  had  the  ambition  to  make  of  Egypt  a  great  African  Em- 
pire, by  adding  to  it  vast  regions  in  the  interior.  For  this 
he  has  sent  repeated  expeditions  up  the  Nile,  and  is  in  a  con- 


68  HIS   SPECULATIONS. 

tinual  conflict  with  his  barbarous  neighbors,  and  has  at  last 
got  into  a  serious  war  with  Abyssinia. 

But  even  this  is  not  alh  Not  satisfied  with  managing  the 
aifairs  of  government,  the  Khedive,  with  that  restless  spirit 
which  characterizes  him,  is  deeply  involved  in  all  sorts  of 
piivate  enterprises.  He  is  a  speculator  on  a  gigantic  scale, 
going  into  every  sort  of  mercantile  adventure.  He  is  a  great 
real  estate  operator.  He  owns  whole  squares  in  the  new 
parts  of  Cairo  and  Alexandria,  on  which  he  is  constantly 
building  houses,  besides  buying  houses  built  by  others.  He 
builds  hotels  and  opera  houses,  and  runs  steamboats  and  rail- 
roads, like  a  royal  Jim  Fisk.  The  steamer  on  which  we 
crossed  the  Mediterranean  from  Constantinople  to  Alexan- 
dria, belonged  to  the  Khedive,  and  the  railroad  that  brought 
us  to  Cairo,  and  the  hotel  in  which  we  were  lodged,  and  the 
steamer  in  which  we  went  up  the  Nile. 

Nor  is  he  limited  in  his  enterprises  to  steamers  and  rail- 
roads. He  is  a  great  cotton  and  sugar  planter.  He  owns  a 
large  part  of  the  land  in  Egypt,  on  which  he  has  any  number 
of  plantations.  His  immense  sugar  factories,  on  which  he 
has  expended  millions  of  pounds,  may  be  seen  all  along  the 
valley  of  the  Nile ;  and  he  exports  cotton  by  the  shipload 
from  the  port  of  Alexandria. 

A  man  who  is  thus  "up  to  his  eyes"  in  speculation,  who 
tries  to  do  everything  himself,  must  do  many  things  badly, 
or  at  least  imperfectly.  He  cannot  possibly  supervise  every 
detail  of  administration,  and  his  agents  have  not  the  stim- 
ulus of  a  personal  interest  to  make  the  most  of  their  oppor- 
tunity. I  asked  very  often,  when  up  the  Nile,  if  these 
great  sugar  factories  which  1  saw  paid,  and  was  uniformly 
answered  "  No  ;  "  but  that  they  would  pay  in  private  hands, 
if  managed  by  those  who  had  a  personal  stake  in  saving 
every  needless  expense,  and  increasing  every  possible  source 
of  income.  But  the  Khedive  is  cheated  on  every  side,  and 
in  a  hundred  ways.      And  even  if  there  were  not  actual 


EGYPT  NEARLY  BANKRUPT.  69 

fraud,  the  system  is  one  which  necessarily  involves  immense 
waste  and  loss.  Here  in  Cairo  I  find  it  the  universal  opin- 
ion that  almost  all  the  Khedive's  speculations  have  been  gi- 
gantic failures,  and  that  they  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  trouble 
which  now  threatens  the  country. 

Such  is  the  present  financial  condition  of  the  Khedive  and 
of  Egypt.  I  couple  the  two  together ;  although  an  attempt 
is  made  to  distinguish  them,  and  we  hear  that  although 
Egypt  is  nearly  bankrupt,  yet  that  the  Khedive  is  personally 
"  the  richest  man  in  the  world  !  "  But  the  accounts  are  so 
mixed  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  separate  them.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Khedive  has  immense  possessions  in  his  hands ; 
but  he  is,  at  the  same  time,  to  use  a  commercial  phrase,  enor- 
mously "  extended ;  "  he  is  loaded  with  debt,  and  has  to  borrow 
money  at  ruinous  rates ;  and  if  his  estate  were  suddenly 
wound  up,  and  a  "  receiver  "  appointed  to  administer  upon 
it,  it  is  extremely  doubtful  what  would  be  the  "  assets  "  left. 

Such  an  administrator  has  appeared.  Mr.  Cave  has  just 
come  out  from  England,  to  try  and  straighten  out  the  Khe- 
dive's affairs.  But  he  has  a  great  task  before  him.  Wise 
heads  here  doubt  whether  his  mission  will  come  to  anything, 
whether  indeed  he  will  be  allowed  to  get  at  the  "  bottom  facts," 
or  to  make  anything  more  than  a  superficial  examination,  as 
the  basis  of  a  "  whitewashing  report "  which  may  bolster  up 
Egyptian  credit  in  Paris  and  London. 

But  if  he  does  come  to  know  "  the  truth  and  the  whole 
truth,"  then  I  predict  that  he  will  either  abandon  the  case  in 
despair,  or  he  will  have  to  recommend  to  the  Khedive,  as  the 
only  salvation  for  him,  a  more  sweeping  and  radical  reform 
than  the  latter  has  yet  dreamed  of.  It  requires  some  degree 
of  moral  courage  to  talk  to  a  sovereign  as  to  a  private  indi- 
vidual ;  to  speak  to  him  as  if  he  were  a  prodigal  son  who  had 
wasted  his  substance  in  riotous  living ;  to  tell  him  to  moder- 
ate his  desires,  and  restrain  his  ambition,  and  to  live  a  quiet 
and  sober  life;  and  to  "live  within  his  means."     But  this 


70  THE   MISSION   OF   MR.  CAVE. 

he  must  do,  or  it  is  easy  to  see  where  this  brilliant  finanbier- 
ing  will  end. 

If  Mr.  Cave  can  persuade  the  Khedive  to  restrain  his  ex- 
travagance ;  to  stop  building  palaces  (he  has  now  more  than 
he  can  possibly  use) ;  and  to  give  up,  once  for  all,  as  the  fol- 
lies of  his  youth,  his  grand  schemes  of  annexing  the  whole 
interior  of  Africa,  as  he  has  already  annexed  Nubia  and 
Soudan ;  and  to  "  back  out  "  as  gracefully  as  he  can  (although 
it  is  a  very  awkward  business),  of  his  war  with  Abyssinia; 
and  then  to  follow  up  the  good  course  he  has  begun  with  his 
Suez  Canal  shares,  by  selling  all  his  stock  in  every  commer- 
cial company  (for  one  man  must  not  try  to  absorb  all  the  in- 
dustry of  a  kingdom)  ;  if  he  can  persuade  him  to  sell  all  the 
railways  in  Egypt ;  and  to  sell  every  steamship  on  the  Medi- 
terranean, except  such  as  may  be  needed  for  the  use  of  the 
govei-nment ;  and  every  boat  on  the  Nile  except  a  yacht  or 
two  for  his  private  pleasure ;  to  sell  all  his  hotels  and  thea- 
tres ;  his  sugar  factories  and  cotton  plantations ;  and  aban- 
doning all  his  private  speculations,  to  be  content  with  being 
simply  the  ruler  of  Egypt,  and  attending  to  the  aftairs  of 
government,  which  are  quite  enough  to  occupy  the  thoughts 
of  "  a  mind  capacious  of  such  things ;  "  then  he  may  succeed 
in  righting  up  the  ship.  Otherwise  I  fear  the  Khedive  will 
follow  the  fate  of  his  master  the  Sultan. 

But  impending  bankruj^tcy  is  not  the  worst  feature  in 
Egypt.  There  is  something  more  rotten  in  the  State  than 
bad  financial  management.  It  is  the  want  of  justice  estab- 
lished by  law,  which  shall  protect  the  rights  of  the  people. 
At  present,  liberty  there  is  none ;  the  government  is  an 
absolute  despotism,  as  much  as  it  was  three  thousand  years 
ago.  The  system  under  which  the  Israelites  groaned,  and 
for  which  God  brought  the  plagues  upon  Egypt,  is  in  full 
force  to-day.  The  Khedive  has  obtained  great  credit  abroad 
by  the  expeditions  of  Sir  Samiiel  Baker  and  others  up  the 
NUe,  which  were  said  to  be  designed  to  break  up  the  slave 


THE   SYSTEM   OF   FORCED   LABOR.  71 

trade.  But  what  signifies  destroying  slavery  in  the  interior 
of  Africa,  when  a  system  still  more  intolerable  exists  in 
Egypt  itself ?  It  is  not  called  slavery;  it  is  simply  J^mxed 
labor,  which,  being  interpreted,  means  that  when  the  Khedive 
wants  ten  thousand  men  to  dig  a  canal  or  build  a  railroad, 
he  sends  into  the  requisite  number  of  villages,  and  "  con- 
scripts "  them  en  masse,  just  as  he  conscripts  his  soldiers 
(taking  them  away  from  their  little  farms,  perhaps,  at  the 
very  moment  when  their  labor  is  most  needed),  and  sets 
them  to  work  for  himself,  under  taskmasters,  driving  them 
to  work  under  the  goad  of  the  lash,  or,  if  need  be,  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet.  For  this  labor,  thus  cruelly  exacted, 
they  receive  absolutely  nothing — neither  pay  nor  food.  A 
man  who  has  constructed  some  of  the  greatest  works  of 
Modern  Egypt,  said  to  me,  as  we  were  riding  over  the  Delta, 
"  I  built  this  railroad.  I  had  under  me  twenty  thousand 
men — all  forced  labor.  In  return  for  their  labor,  I  gave 
them — water  !  "  "  But  surely  you  paid  them  wages  ?  "  "  No." 
"  But  at  least  you  gave  them  food  ?  "  "No."  "  But  how 
did  they  live?"  "The  women  worked  on  the  land,  and 
brought  them  bread  and  rice."  "  But  suppose  they  failed 
to  bring  food,  what  became  of  the  workmen  ?  "  "  They 
starved."  And  not  only  were  they  forced  to  work  without 
pay  and  without  food,  but  were  often  required  to  furnish 
their  own  tools.  Surely  this  is  making  bricks  without  straw, 
as  much  as  the  Israelites  did.  Such  a  system  of  labor,  how- 
ever grand  the  public  works  it  may  construct,  can  hardly 
excite  the  admiration  of  a  lover  of  free  institutions. 

On  all  who  escape  this  forced  labor,  the  taxation  is  fearful. 
The  hand  of  the  government  is  as  heavy  upon  them  as  in  the 
ancient  days.  To  one  who  was  telling  me  of  this — and 
no  man  knows  Egypt  better — I  said,  "  Why,  the  govern- 
ment takes  half  of  all  that  the  country  yields."  "  Half  ?  " 
he  answered,  "  7i!  takes  oRy  To  the  misei"able  fellahs  who 
till  the  soil  it  leaves  only  their  mud  hovels,  the  rags  that 


72  THE   ADMENISTEATION   OF   JUSTICE. 

scarcely  hide  their  nakedness,  and  the  few  herbs  and  frnits 
tliat  but  just  keep  soul  and  body  together.  Every  acre  of 
ground  in  Egypt  is  taxed,  and  every  palm  tree  in  the  valley 
of  the  Nile.  What  would  our  Amer-ican  farmers  say  to  a 
tax  of  twelve  dollars  an  acre  on  their  land,  and  of  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  on  every  apple  tree  in  their  or- 
chards? Yet  this  enormous  burden  falls,  not  on  the  rich 
farmers  of  New  England,  or  New  York,  or  Ohio,  but  on  the 
miserable  fellahs  of  Egypt,  who  are  far  more  destitute  than 
the  negi'oes  of  the  South.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
poverty  and  "wretchedness,  in  these  miserable  Arab  villages 
the  tax  gatherer  appears  regularly,  and  the  tax,  though  it 
be  the  price  of  blood,  is  remorselessly  exacted.  If  anybody 
refuses,  or  is  unable  to  pay,  no  words  are  wasted  on  him,  he 
is  immediately  bastinadoed  till  his  cries  avail — not  with  the 
ofiicers  of  the  law,  who  know  no  mercy,  but  with  his  neigh- 
bors, who  yielding  up  their  last  penuy,  compel  the  executioner 
to  let  go  his  hold. 

Such  is  the  Egyptian  Government  as  it  presses  on  the  peo- 
ple. While  its  hand  is  so  heavy  in  ruinous  taxations,  the 
administration  of  justice  is  pretty  much  as  it  was  in  the  time 
of  the  Pharaohs.  It  has  been  in  the  hands  of  a  set  of  native 
ofiicials,  who  sometimes  executed  a  rude  kind  of  justice  on 
the  old  i>rinciple  of  strict  retaliation,  "  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and 
a  tooth  for  a  tooth,"  but  commonly  paid  no  regard  to  the 
merits  of  a  case,  but  decided  it  entirely  by  other  considera- 
tions. In  matters  where  the  Government  was  concerned,  no 
private  individual  had  any  chance  whatever.  The  Khedive 
was  the  source  of  all  authority  and  power,  a  central  divinity, 
of  whom  every  official  in  the  country  was  an  emanation,  be- 
fore whom  no  law  or  justice  could  stand.  In  other  matters 
judges  decided  according  to  their  own  pleasure — their  like 
or  dislike  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  parties — or  more  often 
according  to  their  interest,  for  they  were  notoriously  open  to 
bribes.     Thus  in  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  justice  there  was 


THE   CONSULAR   C0UET8.  73 

none.  In  eveiy  Arab  village  the  slieik  was  a  petty  tyrant, 
who  conld  bastinado  the  miserable  fellahs  at  his  will. 

This  rough  kind  of  government  answered  its  purpose — or 
at  least  there  was  no  one  who  dared  to  question  it — so  loug 
as  they  had  only  their  own  people  to  rule  over.  But  when 
foreigners  came  to  settle  in  Egypt,  they  were  not  willing  to  be 
subjected  to  this  Oriental  j ustice.  Hence  arose  a  system  of 
Consular  Courts,  by  which  every  question  which  concerned 
a  foreigner  was  argued  and  decided  before  a  mixed  tribunal, 
composed  of  the  Consul  of  the  country  and  a  native  judge. 
This  seemed  very  fair,  but  in  fact  it  only  made  confusion  worse 
confounded.  For  naturally  the  Consul  sided  with  his  own 
countryman  (if  he  did  not,  he  would  be  considered  almost  a 
traitor),  his  foreign  prejudices  came  into  play  ;  and  so  what 
was  purely  a  question  of  law,  became  a  political  question. 
It  was  not  merely  a  litigation  about  property  between  A 
and  B,  but  a  matter  of  diplomatic  skill  between  France  (or 
any  other  foreign  power)  and  Egypt ;  and  as  France  was  the 
stronger,  she  was  the  more  likely  to  succeed.  Hence  the 
foreigner  had  great  advantages  over  the  native  in  these  Con- 
sular Courts,  and  if  in  addition  the  native  judge  was  open 
to  a  bribe,  and  the  foreigner  was  willing  to  give  it,  the  native 
suitor,  however  wronged,  was  completely  at  his  mercy. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  until  quite  recently.  But 
here  at  least  there  has  been  a  reform  in  the  introduction  of 
a  new  judicial  system,  which  is  the  greatest  step  forward 
that  has  been  taken  within  half  a  century. 

The  man  who  was  the  first  to  see  what  was  the  radical 
vice  of  the  country,  the  effectual  hindrance  to  its  prosperity, 
was  Nubar  Pasha.  He  had  the  sagacity  to  see  that  the 
first  want  of  Egypt  was  not  more  railroads  and  steamboats, 
but  simple  justice — the  protection  of  law.  How  clearly  he 
saw  the  evil,  was  indicated  by  a  remark  which  I  once  heard 
bim  make.  He  said  :  "  The  idea  of  justice  does  not  exist 
in  the  Oriental  mind.  We  have  governors  and  judges,  who 
4 


74  JUSTICE   THE   GREAT   WANT   OF    EGYPT. 

sit  to  hear  causes,  and  who  decide  them  after  the  Oriental 
fashion — that  is,  they  will  decide  in  favor  of  a  friend  against 
an  enemy,  or  more  commonly  in  favor  of  the  man  who  can 
pay  the  largest  bribe  ;  but  to  sit  patiently  and  listen  to  evi- 
dence, and  then  decide  according  to  abstract  justice,  is  some- 
thing not  only  foreign  to  their  customs,  but  of  which  they 
have  absolutely  no  idea — they  cannot  conceive  of  it."  He 
saw  that  a.  feeling  of  insecurity  was  at  the  bottom  of  the 
want  of  confidence  at  home  and  abi-oad  ;  and  that  to  "  estab- 
lish justice  "  was  the  first  thing  both  to  encourage  native 
industry,  and  to  invite  the  capital  of  France  and  England  to 
expend  itself  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  To  accomplish  this 
has  been  his  single  aim  for  many  years.  He  has  set  himself 
to  do  away  with  the  old  Oriental  system  complicated  by  the 
Consular  Courts,  and  to  introduce  the  simple  administration 
of  justice,  by  which  there  should  be  one  law  for  natives  and 
foreigners,  for  the  rich  and  the  poor,  for  the  powerful  and 
the  weak. 

To  inaugurate  such  a  policy,  which  was  a  virtual  revolu- 
tion, the  initiative  must  be  taken  by  Egypt.  But  how  coTild 
the  Khedive  propose  a  change  which  was  a  virtvial  surrender 
of  his  own  absolute  power  ?  He  could  no  longer  be  abso- 
lute within  the  courts  :  and  to  give  up  this  no  Oriental  despot 
would  consent,  for  it  was  parting  with  the  dearest  token  of 
his  power  over  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  his  subjects.  But 
the  Khedive  was  made  to  see,  that,  if  he  surrendered  some- 
thing, he  gained  much  more ;  that  it  was  an  immense  advan- 
tage to  himself  and  his  country  to  be  brought  within  the 
pale  of  European  civilization ;  and  that  this  could  not  be 
\intil  it  was  placed  under  the  protection  of  European  law. 

But  Egypt  was  not  the  only  power  to  be  consulted.  The 
change  could  only  be  made  by  treaty  with  other  countries, 
and  Egypt  was  not  an  independent  State,  and  had  no  right 
to  enter  into  negotiations  with  foreign  powers  without  the 
consent  of  the  Porte.     To  obtain  this  involved  long  and 


THE  .NEW   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM.  75 

tedious  delays  at  Constantinople.  And  last  of  all,  the 
foreign  States  themselves  had  to  be  persuaded  into  it,  for  of 
course  the  change  involved  the  surrender  of  their  consular 
jurisdiction;  and  all  were  jealous  lest  it  should  be  giving  up 
the  rights  of  their  citizens.  To  persuade  them  to  the  con- 
trary was  a  slow  business.  Each  government  considered 
how  it  would  affect  its  own  subjects.  France  especially, 
which  had  had  great  advantages  under  the  old  Consular 
Courts,  was  the  last  to  give  its  consent  to  the  new  system. 
It  was  only  a  few  days  before  the  New  Year,  at  which  it 
was  to  be  inaugurated,  that  the  National  Assembly,  after  a 
debate  lasting  nearly  a  week,  finally  adopted  the  measure  by 
a  majority  of  three  to  one,  and  thus  the  great  judicial  re- 
form, on  which  the  wisest  statesman  of  Egypt  had  so  long 
fixed  his  heart,  was  consummated. 

The  change,  in  a  word,  is  this.  The  old  Consular  Coux-ts 
are  abolished,  and  in  their  place  are  constituted  three  courts 
— one  at  Cairo,  one  at  Alexandria,  and  one  at  Ismailia — 
each  composed  of  seven  judges,  of  whom  a  majority  are 
nominated  by  the  foreign  powers  which  have  most  to  do  with 
Egypt :  France,  England,  Germany,  Austria,  Russia,  and  the 
United  States.  In  the  selection  of  judges,  as  there  are  three 
benches  to  be  tilled,  several  are  taken  from  the  smaller  states 
of  Europe.  There  is  also  a  higher  Court  of  Appeal  consti- 
tuted in  the  same  way. 

The  judges  to  fill  these  important  positions  have  already 
been  named  by  the  different  governments,  and  so  far  as  the 
personnel  of  the  new  courts  is  concerned,  leave  nothing  to 
be  desired.  They  are  all  men  of  reputation  in  their  own 
countries,  as  having  the  requisite  legal  knowledge  and  ability, 
and  as  men  of  character,  who  will  administer  the  law  in  the 
interest  of  justice,  and  that  alone.  The  United  States  is 
represented  by  Judge  Barringer  at  Alexandria,  and  Judge 
Batcheller  at  Cairo — both  of  whom  will  render  excellent 
service  to  Egypt,  and  do  honor  to  their  own  country. 


76  THE   NEW  JUDICIAL    SYSTEM. 

The  law  which  these  courts  are  to  administer,  is  not  Mos- 
lem law  (until  now  the  supreme  law  of  Egypt  was  the 
Koran,  as  it  still  is  in  Turkey),  nor  any  kind  of  Oriental 
law — but  European  law.  Guided  by  the  same  intelligence 
which  framed  the  new  judicial  system,  Egypt  has  adopted 
the  Code  Napoleon.  The  French  language  will  be  used  in 
the  courts  for  the  European  judges,  and  the  Arabic  for  the 
native. 

In  administering  this  law,  these  courts  are  stipreme  ;  they 
cannot  be  toiiched  by  the  Government,  or  their  decisions 
annulled  ;  for  they  are  constituted  hy  treaty,  and  any  attempt 
to  interfere  with  them  would  at  once  be  resented  by  all  the 
foreign  powers  as  a  violation  of  a  solemn  compact,  and  bring 
down  upon  Egypt  the  protest  and  indignation  of  the  whole 
civilized  world. 

The  change  involved  in  the  introduction  of  such  a  system 
can  hardly  be  realized  by  Europeans  or  Americans.  It  is 
the  first  attempt  to  inaugurate  a  reign  of  law  in  Egypt,  or 
perhaps  in  any  Oriental  country.  It  is  a  breakwater  eqiially 
against  the  despotism  of  the  central  power,  and  the  meddle- 
someness of  foreign  governments,  acting  through  the  Con- 
sular Courts.  For  the  first  time  the  Khedive  is  himself  put 
under  law,  and  has  some  check  to  his  power  over  the  lives 
and  property  of  his  subjects.  Indeed  we  may  say  that  it  is 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Egypt  that  there  has  been 
one  law  for  ruler  and  people — for  the  Kliedive  and  the 
fellah,  for  the  native-born  and  for  the  stranger  within  their 
gates. 

The  completion  of  such  a  system,  after  so  much  labor,  has 
naturally  been  regarded  with  great  satisfaction  by  those  who 
have  been  working  for  it,  and  its  inauguration  on  the  first 
of  the  year  was  an  occasion  of  congratulation.  On  that  day 
the  new  judges  were  inducted  into  office,  and  after  taking 
their  official  oaths  they  were  all  entertained  at  the  house  of 
Judge  Batcheller,  where  was  present  also  Mr.  Washburne, 


THE   NEW   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM.  77 

our  Minister  at  Paris,  and  where  speeches  were  made  in 
English,  French,  German,  and  Arabic,  and  the  warmest 
wishes  expressed  both  by  the  foreign  and  native  judges,  that 
a  system  devised  with  so  much  care  for  the  good  of  Egypt, 
might  be  completely  successful.  Of  course  it  will  take  time 
for  the  people  to  get  accustomed  to  the  new  state  of  things. 
They  are  so  unused  to  any  form  of  justice  that  at  first  they 
hardly  know  what  it  means,  and  will  be  suspicious  of  it,  as 
if  it  were  some  new  device  of  oppression.  They  have  to  be 
educated  to  justice,  as  to  everything  else.  By  and  bye  they 
•will  get  some  new  ideas  into  their  heads,  and  we  may  see  a 
real  administration  of  justice  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  That 
it  may  realize  the  hopes  of  the  great  man  by  whom  it  has 
been  devised,  and  "  establish  justice  "  in  a  country  in  which 
justice  has  been  hitherto  unknown,  will  be  the  wish  of  every 
American. 

This  new  judicial  system  is  the  one  bright  spot  in  the  state 
of  Egypt,  where  there  is  so  much  that  is  dark.  It  is  the  one 
step  of  real  progress  to  be  set  over  against  all  the  waste  and 
extravagance,  the  oppression  and  tyranny.  Aside  from  that 
I  cannot  indulge  in  any  rose-colored  views.  1  cannot  go  into 
ecstasies  of  admiration  over  a  government  which  has  had 
absolute  control  of  the  country  for  so  many  years,  and  has 
brought  it  to  the  verge  of  ruin. 

And  yet  these  failures  and  disasters,  great  as  they  are,  do 
not  abate  my  interest  in  Egypt,  nor  in  that  remarkable  man 
who  has  at  present  its  destinies  in  his  hands.  I  would  not  ask 
too  much,  nor  set  up  an  unreasonable  standard.  I  am  not  so 
foolish  as  to  suppose  that  Egypt  can  be  a  constitutional  mon- 
archy like  England ;  or  a  republic  like  America.  This  would 
be  carrying  republicanism  to  absvirdity.  I  am  not  such  an 
enthusiast  for  republican  institutions,  as  to  believe  that  they 
are  the  best  for  all  peoples,  whatever  their  degree  of  intelli- 
gence. They  would  be  unsui*^ed  to  Egypt.  The  people  are 
not  fit  for  them.     They  are  not  only  very  poor,  but  very 


78    THE  BEST  GOVERNMENT  AN  ENLIGHTENED  DESPOTISM. 

ignorant.  There  is  no  middle  class  in  Egypt  in  which  to  find 
the  materials  of  free  institutions.  Republican  as  I  am,  I 
believe  that  the  best  possible  government  for  Egypt  is  an  en- 
lightened despotism  /  and  my  complaint  against  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Khedive  is,  not  that  he  concentrates  all  power 
in  himself,  but  that  he  does  not  use  it  wisely — that  his  gov- 
ernment unites,  with  many  features  of  a  civilized  state,  some 
of  the  very  worst  features  of  Oriental  tyranny. 

But  with  all  that  is  dark  in  the  present  state  of  this  coun- 
try, and  sad  in  the  condition  of  its  people,  I  believe  that 
Egyjit  has  a  great  future  before  it ;  that  it  is  to  rise  to  a  new 
life,  and  become  a  prosperous  State  of  the  modern  world. 
The  Nile  valley  has  a  great  part  yet  to  play  in  the  future 
civilization  of  Africa,  as  an  avenue  of  access  to  the  in- 
terior— to  those  central  highlands  where  are  the  Great 
Lakes,  which  are  the  long-sought  sources  of  the  Nile ;  and 
from  which  travellers  and  explorers,  merchants  and  mission- 
aries, may  descend  on  the  one  hand  to  the  Niger,  and  to 
the  Western  Coast ;  or,  on  the  other,  to  those  vast  regions 
which  own  the  rule  of  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar.  I  watch 
with  interest  every  Expedition  up  the  Nile,  if  so  be  it  is  an 
advance,  not  of  conquest,  but  of  peaceful  commerce  and  civ- 
ilization. 

Perhaps  the  Khedive  will  rise  to  the  height  of  the  emer- 
gency, and  bring  his  country  out  of  all  its  difficulties,  and  set 
it  on  a  new  career  of  prosperity.  He  has  great  qualities, 
gi-eat  capacity  and  marvellous  energy.  Has  he  also  the  gift 
of  political  wisdom  ? 

Never  had  a  ruler  such  an  opportunity.  He  has  a  part  to 
act — if  he  knows  how  to  act  it  well — which  will  give  him 
a  name  in  history  gi-eater  than  any  of  the  old  kings  of 
Egypt,  since  to  him  it  is  given  to  reconstruct  a  kingdom,  and 
to  lead  the  way  for  the  regeneration  of  a  continent.  If  only 
be  can  see  that  Ids  true  interest  lies,  not  in  war,  but  in 
peace,  not  in  conquering  all  the  tribes  of  Africa,  and  annex- 


THE   KHEDIVE.  79 

ing  their  territory,  but  in  developing  the  resources  of  his  own 
country,  and  in  peaceful  commerce  with  his  less  civilized 
neighbors,  he  will  place  himself  at  the  head  of  a  continent, 
and  by  the  powerful  influence  of  his  example,  and  of  his  own 
prosperous  State,  become  not  only  the  Restorer  of  Egypt,  but 
the  Civilizer  of  Africa. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MIDNIGHT    IN    THE    HEART    OF    THE    GREAT    PYRAMID. 

Our  last  nigbt  in  Cairo  we  spent  in  riding  out  to 
Ghizeh  by  moonlight,  and  exploring  the  interior  of  the 
Great  Pyramid.  We  had  already  been  there  by  day,  and 
climbed  to  the  top,  but  did  not  then  go  inside.  There  is 
no  access  but  by  a  single  narrow  passage,  four  feet  wide 
and  high,  which  slopes  at  a  descending  angle,  so  that  one 
must  stoop  very  low  while  he  slides  down  an  inclined  plane, 
as  if  he  were  descending  into  a  mine  by  a  very  small  shaft. 
There  is  not  much  pleasure  in  crouching  and  creeping  along 
such  a  passage,  with  a  crowd  of  Arab  guides  before  and  be- 
hind, lighting  the  darkness  with  their  torches,  and  making 
the  rocky  cavern  hideous  with  their  yells.  These  creatures 
fasten  on  the  traveller,  pulling  and  pushing,  smoking  in  his 
face,  and  raising  such  a  dust  that  he  cannot  see,  and  is  almost 
choked,  and  keeping  up  such  a  noise  that  he  cannot  hear,  and 
can  hardly  think.  One  likes  a  little  quiet  and  silence,  a 
little  chance  for  meditation,  when  he  penetrates  the  sepulchre 
of  kings,  where  a  Pharaoh  was  laid  down  to  rest  four  thousand 
years  ago.  So  I  left  these  interior  researches,  on  our  first 
visit  to  the  Pyramid,  to  the  younger  membei'S  of  our  party, 
and  contented  myself  with  clambering  up  its  sides,  and  look- 
ing off  upon  the  desert  and  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  with  Cairo 
in  the  distance. 

But  on  our  trip  up  the  Nile,  I  read  the  work  of  Piazzi 
Smyth,  the  Astronomer  Royal  of  Scotland,  "  Our  Inheritance 
in  the  Great  Pyramid,"  and  had  my  curiosity  excited  to  see 


MTONIGHT   IN   THE   GKEAT   PTKAMID.  81 

again  a  stnicture  which  was  not.  only  the  oldest  and  greatest 
in  the  world,  but  in  which  he  thought  to  have  discovered 
the  proofs  of  a  divine  revelation.  Dr.  Grant  of  Cairo,  who 
had  made  a  study  of  the  subject,  and  had  spent  many  nights 
in  the  heai-t  of  the  Pyramid,  taking  accurate  measurements, 
kindly  offered  to  accompany  us ;  and  so  we  made  up  a  party 
of  those  who  had  come  down  the  Nile — an  Episcopal  clergy- 
man from  New  England,  a  Colonel  from  the  United  States 
Army,  a  lady  from  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  a  German  lady 
and  her  daughter  who  had  been  with  us  for  more  than  two 
months,  and  my  niece  and  myself.  It  was  to  be  our  last 
excursion  together,  as  we  were  to  part  on  the  moi-row,  and 
should  probably  never  all  meet  again. 

At  half-past  eight  o'clock  we  drove  away  from  the  Ez- 
bekieh  square  in  Cairo.  It  was  one  of  those  lovely  nights 
found  only  in  Egypt.  The  moon,  approaching  the  full,  cast 
a  soft  light  on  everything — on  the  Nile,  as  we  crossed  the 
long  iron  bridge,  and  on  the  i)alms,  waving  gently  in  the 
night  wind.  We  rode  along  under  the  avenue  of  trees  plant- 
ed by  old  Meliemet  Ali,  keeping  up  an  animated  conver- 
sation, and  getting  a  great  deal  of  information  about  Egypt. 
It  was  two  houra  before  we  reached  the  Pyramid.  Of  course 
the  Arabs,  who  had  seen  the  carriages  approaching  along  the 
road,  and  who  like  vultures,  discern  their  prey  from  a  great 
distance,  were  soon  around  us,  offering  their  services.  But 
Dr.  Grant,  whose  experience  had  taught  him  whom  to  seek, 
sent  for  the  head  man,  whom  he  knew,  who  had  accompanied 
him  in  his  explorations,  and  bade  him  seek  out  a  sufficient 
number  of  trusty  guides  for  our  party,  and  keep  off  the  rest. 

While  the  sheik  was  seeking  for  his  retainers,  we  strolled 
away  to  the  Sphinx,  which  looked  more  strange  and  weird 
than  ever  in  the  moonlight.  How  many  centuiies  has  he 
sat  there,  crouching  on  the  desert,  and  looking  towards  the 
rising  sun.  The  body  is  that  of  a  recumbent  lion.  The 
back  only  is  seen,  as  the  giant  limbs,  which  are  stretched  out 
4* 


82  MIDNIGHT   IN   THE   GKEAT   PYRAMID. 

sixty  feet  in  front,  are  wholly  covered  by  the  sand.  But  the 
miglity  head  still  lifts  its  unchanged  brow  above  the  waste, 
looking  towards  the  East,  to  see  the  sun  rise,  as  it  has  every 
morning  for  four  thousand  years. 

On  our  return  to  the  Pyramid,  Dr.  Grant  pointed  out  the 
"corner  sockets"  of  the  original  structure,  showing  how 
much  larger  it  was  when  first  built,  and  as  it  stood  in  the 
time  of  the  Pharaohs,  It  is  well  known  that  it  has  been  mu- 
tilated by  the  successive  rulers  of  Egypt,  who  have  stripped 
off  its  outer  layers  of  granite  to  build  palaces  and  mosques 
in  Cairo.  This  process  of  spoliation,  continued  for  centuries, 
has  reduced  the  size  of  the  Pyramid  two  acres,  so  that  now 
it  covers  but  eleven  acres' of  ground,  whereas  originally  it 
covered  thirteen.  Outside  of  all  this  was  a  pavement  of 
granite,  extending  forty  feet  from  the  base,  which  surround- 
ed the  whole. 

By  the  time  we  had  returned,  the  sheik  was  on  hand  with 
his  swarthy  guides  around  him,  and  we  prepared  to  enter  the 
Pyramid.  It  was  not  intended  to  be  entered.  If  it  had  been 
so  designed — as  it  is  the  largest  building  in  the  world — it 
would  have  had  a  lofty  gateway  in  keeping  with  its  enor- 
mous proportions,  like  the  temples  of  Upper  Egypt.  But  it 
is  not  a  temple,  nor  a.  place  for  assembly  or  for  worship,  nor 
even  a  lofty,  vaulted  place  of  burial,  like  the  tombs  of  the 
Medici  in  Florence,  or  other  royal  mausoleums.  Except  the 
King's  and  Queen's  chambers  (which  are  called  chambers  by 
courtesy,  not  being  large  enoixgh  for  ordinary  bedrooms  in  a 
royal  palace,  but  more  like  a  hermit's  rocky  cell),  the  whole 
Pyramid  is  one  mass  of  stone,  as  solid  as  the  cliff  of  El  Capi- 
tan  in  the  Yo  Semite  valley.  The  only  entrance  is  by  the 
narrow  passage  already  described ;  and  even  this  was  walled 
up  so  as  to  be  concealed.  If  it  were  intended  for  a  tomb, 
whoever  built  it  sealed  it  up,  that  its  secret  might  remain 
forever  inviolate ;  and  that  the  dead  might  slumber  undis- 
turbed until  the  Judgment  day.      It  was  only  by  accident 


MIDNIGHT   m   THE   GREAT   PYRAMID.  83 

that  an  entrance  was  discovered.  About  a  thousand  years 
ago  a  Mohammedan  i-uler,  conceiving  the  idea  that  the 
Pyramid  had  been  built  as  a  storehouse  for  the  treasures  of 
the  kings  of  Egypt,  undertook  to  break  into  it,  and  worked 
for  mouths  to  pierce  the  gi-anite  sides,  but  was  about  to  give 
it  up  in  despair,  when  the  accidental  falling  of  a  stone  led  to 
the  discover'y  of  the  passage  by  which  one  now  gains  access 
to  the  interior. 

In  getting  into  the  Pyramid  one  must  stoop  to  conquer. 
But  this  stooping  is  nothing  to  the  bodily  prostrations  he  has 
to  undergo  to  get  into  some  passages  of  the  temples  and  un- 
derground tombs.  Often  one  has  not  only  to  crouch,  but  to 
crawl.  Kear  the  Pyi-amid  are  some  tombs,  the  mouths  of 
which  are  so  choked  up  with  sand  that  one  has  actually  to 
forego  all  use  of  hands  and  knees.  I  threw  myself  in  despair 
on  the  ground,  and  told  the  guides  to  drag  me  in  by  the 
heels.  As  one  lies  prone  on  the  earth,  he  cannot  help  feeling 
that  this  horizontal  posture  is  rather  ridiculous  for  one  who 
is  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  I  could  not  but  think  to 
what  a  low  estate  I  had  fallen.  Sometimes  one  feels  indeed, 
as  he  is  thus  compelled  to  "  Hck  the  dust,"  as  if  the  curse  of 
the  serpent  were  pronounced  upon  him,  "  On  thy  belly  shalt 
thou  go,  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy  life." 

We  had  trusted  to  the  man  in  authority  to  protect  us 
from  the  horde  of  Arabs;  but  nothing  could  keep  back  the 
irrepressible  camp-followers,  who  flocked  after  us,  and  when 
we  got  into  the  King's  chamber,  we  found  we  had  twenty- 
four  I  "With  such  a  bodyguard,  each  carrying  a  lighted 
candle,  we  took  up  our  forward  march,  or  rather  our  forward 
stoop,  for  no  man  can  stand  upright  in  this  low  passage. 
Thus  bending  one  after  another,  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  we 
vanished  from  the  moonlight.  Dr.  Grant  led  the  way,  and, 
full  of  the  wonders  of  the  construction  of  the  Pyramid,  he 
called  to  me,  as  he  disappeared  down  its  throat,  to  look  back 
and  see  how  that  long  tube — ^longer  and  larger  than  any  tele- 


84  THE   GRAND   GALLERY, 

Bcope  that  ever  was  made — pointed  towards  the  North  Star. 
But  stars  and  moon  were  soon  eclipsed,  and  we  were  lost  in 
the  dai-kness  of  this  labyrinth.  The  descent  is  easy,  indeed 
it  is  too  easy,  for  the  sides  of  the  i>assage  are  of  polished 
limestone,  smooth  as  glass,  and  the  floor  affords  but  a  slight 
hold  for  the  feet,  so  that  as  '^e  bent  forward,  we  found  it 
difficult  to  keep  our  balance,  and  might  have  fallen  from  top 
to  bottom  if  we  had  not  had  the  strong  arms  of  our  gviides  to 
hold  us  up.  With  such  a  pair  of  crutches  to  lean  upon,  we 
slid  down  the  smooth  worn  pavement  till  we  came  to  a  huge 
boulder,  a  granite  portcullis,  which  blocked  our  way,  around 
which  a  passage  had  been  cut.  Creeping  around  this,  pulled 
and  hauled  by  the  Arabs,  who  lifted  us  over  the  dangerous 
places,  we  were  shouldered  on  to  another  point  of  rock,  and 
now  began  our  ascent  along  a  passage  as  slippery  as  that  be- 
fore. Here  again  we  should  have  made  poor  progress  alone, 
with  our  boots  which  slipped  at  every  moment  on  the  smooth 
stones,  but  for  the  Arabs,  whose  bare  feet  gave  them  a  better 
hold,  and  who  held  us  fast. 

And  now  we  are  on  a  level  and  move  along  a  very  low 
passage,  crouching  almost  on  our  hands  and  knees,  till  we 
raise  our  heads  and  stand  in  the  Queen's  Chamber — so  called 
for  no  reason  that  we  know  but  that  it  is  smaller  than  the 
King's. 

Returning  from  this,  we  find  ourselves  at  the  foot  of  the 
Grand  Gallery,  or,  as  it  might  be  called.  Grand  Staircase 
(as  in  its  lofty  proportions  it  is  not  unlike  one  of  the  great 
staircases  in  the  old  palaces  of  Genoa  and  Venice),  which 
ascends  into  the  heart  of  the  Pyramid.  This  is  a  magnifi- 
cent hall,  157  feet  long,  28  feet  high,  and  7  feet  wide.  But 
the  ascent  as  before  is  over  smooth  and  polished  limestone,  to 
climb  which  is  like  climbing  a  cone  of  ice.  We  could  not 
have  got  on  at  all  but  for  the  nimble  Arabs,  whose  bare  feet 
enabled  them  to  cling  to  the  slippery  stone  like  cats,  and 
who,  grasping  us  in  their  naked  arms,  dx*agged  us  forward  by 


THE  king's  chamber.  86 

main  force.  The  ladies  shrank  from  this  kind  of  assistance, 
as  they  were  sometimes  almost  embraced  by  these  swarthy 
creatures.  But  there  was  no  help  for  it.  This  kind  of 
bodily  exercise,  passive  and  active,  soon  brought  on  an  ex- 
cessive heat.  We  were  almost  stifled.  Our  faces  grew 
red  ;  I  tore  off  my  cravat  to  keep  from  choking.  Still,  like 
a  true  American,  I  was  willing  to  endure  anything  if  only  I 
got  ahead,  and  felt  rewarded  when  we  reached  the  top  of  the 
Grand  Gallery,  and  instead  of  looking  wj5,  looked  down. 

From  this  height  we  creep  along  another  passage  till  we 
reach  the  object  of  our  climbing,  in  the  lofty  apartment 
called  the  King's  Chamber.  This  is  the  heart  of  the  Great 
Pyramid — the  central  point  for  which  apparently  it  was 
built,  and  where,  if  anywhere,  its  secret  is  to  be  found.  At 
one  end  lies  the  sarcophagus  (if  such  it  was ;  if  the  Pyra- 
mid was  designed  to  be  a  tomb)  in  which  the  great  Cheops 
was  buried.  It  is  now  tenantless,  except  by  such  fancies  as 
travellers  choose  to  fill  it  withal.  I  know  not  what  sudden 
freak  of  fancy  took  me  just  then,  perhaps  I  thought,  How 
would  it  seem  to  be  a  king  even  in  his  tomb  ?  and  instantly 
I  threw  myself  down  at  full  length  within  the  sarcophagus, 
and  lay  extended,  head  thrown  back,  and  hands  folded  on 
my  breast,  lying  still,  as  great  Cheops  may  have  lain,  when 
they  laid  him  in  his  royal  house  of  death.  It  was  a  soft  bed 
of  dust,  which,  as  I  sank  in  it,  left  upon  my  whole  outward 
man  a  marked  impression.  It  seemed  very  like  ordinary 
dust,  settled  from  the  clouds  raised  by  the  Arabs  in  their 
daily  entrances  to  show  the  chamber  to  visitors.  But  it  was 
much  more  poetical  to  suppose  that  it  was  the  mouldering 
dust  of  Cheops  himself,  in  which  case  even  the  mass  that 
clung  to  my  hair  might  be  considered  as  an  anointing  from 
the  historic  past.  From  this  I  was  able  to  relieve  myself, 
after  I  reached  home  that  night,  by  a  plentiful  application 
of  soap  and  water ;  but  alas,  ray  gray  travelling  suit  bore 
the  scars  of  battle,  the  "  dust  of  conflict,"  much  longer,  and 


86  THE  king's  chamber. 

it  was  not  till  we  left  Suez  that  a  waiter  of  the  ship  took 
the  garment  in  hand,  and  by  a  vigorous  beating  exorcised 
the  stains  of  Egypt,  so  that  Pharaoh  and  his  host — or  his 
dust — were  literally  cast  into  the  Red  Sea. 

And  now  we  were  all  in  the  King's  Chamber,  our  party 
of  eight,  with  three  times  the  number  of  Arabs.  The  latter 
were  at  first  quite  noisy,  after  their  usual  fashion,  but  Dr. 
Grant,  who  speaks  Arabic,  hushed  them  with  a  peremptory 
command,  and  they  instantly  subsided,  and  crouched  down 
by  the  wall,  and  sat  silent,  watching  our  movements.  One 
of  the  party  had  brought  with  him  some  magnesium  wire, 
which  he  now  lighted,  and  which  threw  a  strong  glare  on 
the  sides  and  on  the  ceiling  of  the  room,  which,  whether  or 
not  intended  for  the  sepulchre  of  kings,  is  of  massive  solid- 
ity— faced  roixnd  with  red  granite,  and  crossed  above  with 
enormous  blocks  of  the  same  rich  dark  stone.  With  his 
subject  thus  illuminated.  Dr.  Grant  pointed  out  with  great 
clearness  those  features  of  the  King's  Chamber  which  have 
given  it  a  scientific  interest.  The  sarcophagus,  which  is  an 
oblong  chest  of  red  granite,  in  his  opinion,  as  in  that  of 
Piazzi  Smyth,  is  not  a  sarcophagus  at  all ;  indeed  it  looks 
quite  as  much  like  a  huge  bath-tub  as  a  place  of  burial  for  one 
of  the  Pharaohs.  He  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  it 
could  not  have  been  introduced  into  the  Pyramid  by  any  of 
the  known  passages.  It  must,  therefoi'e,  have  been  built  in 
it.  It  is  also  a  singular  fact  that  it  has  no  cover,  as  a  sarco- 
phagus always  has.  No  mummy  was  ever  found  in  it  so 
far  as  we  have  any  histoi'ic  record.  Piazzi  Smyth,  in  his 
book,  which  is  full  of  curious  scientific  lore,  argues  that  it 
was  not  intended  for  a  tomb,  but  for  a  fixed  standard  of 
measures,  such  as  was  given  to  Moses  by  Divine  command. 
It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  coincidence,  if  nothing  more, 
that  it  is  of  the  exact  size  of  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant. 
But  without  giving  too  much  importance  to  real  or  sup- 
posed analogies  and  correspondences,  we  must  acknowledge 


THE   king's   CHAMBEB.  87 

tliat  there  are  many  points  in  the  King's  Chamber  which 
make  it  a  subject  of  curious  study  and  of  scientific  interest ; 
and  which  seem  to  show  that  it  was  consti-ucted  with  refer- 
ence to  certain  mathematical  proportions,  and  had  a  design 
beyond  that  of  being  a  mere  place  of  burial. 

After  we  had  had  this  scientific  discussion,  we  prepared 
for  a  discussion  of  a  difierent  kind — that  of  the  lunch  which 
we  had  brought  with  us.  A  night's  ride  sharpens  the  appe- 
tite. As  the  only  place  where  we  could  sit  was  the  sarco- 
phagus itself,  we  took  our  places  in  it,  sitting  upon  its  gi-anite 
sides.  An  Arab  who  knew  what  we  should  want,  had 
brought  a  pitcher  of  water,  which,  as  the  heat  was  oppres- 
sive, was  most  grateful  to  our  lips,  and  not  less  acceptable  to 
remove  the  dust  from  our  eyes  and  hands.  Thus  refreshed, 
we  relished  our  oranges  and  cakes,  and  the  tiny  cups  of 
Turkish  coflfee. 

To  add  to  the  weirdness  of  the  scene,  the  Arabs  asked  if 
we  would  like  to  see  them  perform  one  of  their  native  dances  ? 
Having  our  assent,  they  formed  in  a  circle,  and  began  mov- 
ing their  bodies  back  and  forth,  keeping  time  with  a  strange 
chant,  which  was  not  very  musical  in  sound,  as  the  dance 
was  not  graceful  in  motion.  It  was  quickly  over,  when,  of 
course,  the  hat  was  passed  instantly  for  a  contribution. 

The  Colonel  proposed  the  health  of  Cheops  !  Poor  old 
Cheops  !  What  would  he  have  said  to  see  such  a  party  dis- 
turbing the  place  of  his  rest  at  such  an  hour  as  this  ?  I 
looked  at  my  watch ;  it  was  midnight — an  hour  when  the 
dead  are  thought  to  stir  uneasily  in  their  graves.  Might  he 
not  have  risen  in  wrath  out  of  his  sarcophagus  to  see  these 
frivolous  moderns  thus  making  merry  in  the  place  of  his 
sepulture  ?  But  this  midnight  feast  was  not  altogether  gay, 
for  some  of  us  thought  how  we  should  be  "  far  away  on 
the  morrow."  For  weeks  and  months  we  had  been  travel- 
ling together,  but  this  excursion  was  to  be  our  last.  We 
were  taking  our  parting  feast — a  fact  which  gave  it  a  touch 


ba  LEAVING    THE   PYBAinD. 

of  sadness,  as  the  place  and  the  hour  gave  it  a  peculiar 
interest. 

And  now  we  prepared  to  descend.  T  lingered  in  the 
chamber  to  the  last,  waiting  till  all  had  gone — till  even  the 
last  attendant  had  crawled  out  and  was  heard  shouting  afar 
off — that  I  might  for  a  moment,  at  least,  be  alone  in  the 
silence  and  the  darkness  in  the  heart  of  the  Pyi'amid  ;  and 
then,  crouching  as  before,  followed  slowly  the  lights  that 
were  becoming  dimmer  and  dimmer  along  the  low  and  narrow 
passage.  Arrived  at  the  top  of  the  Grand  Gallery,  I  waited 
with  a  couple  of  Arabs  till  all  our  party  descended,  and  then 
lighting  a  magnesium  wire,  threw  a  sudden  and  brilliant 
light  over  the  lofty  walls. 

It  was  one  o'clock  when  we  emerged  from  our  tomb  to  the 
air  and  the  moonlight,  and  found  our  carriages  waiting  for 
us.  The  moon  was  setting  in  the  West  as  we  rode  back  un- 
der the  long  avenue  of  trees,  and  across  the  sacred  Nile.  It 
was  three  o'clock  when  we  reached  our  hotel,  and  bade  each 
other  good-night  and  good  bye.  Early  in  the  morning  two 
of  us  were  to  leave  for  India  on  our  way  around  the  world, 
and  others  were  to  turn  their  faces  towards  the  Holy  Land 
and  Italy.  But  however  scattered  over  Europe  and  America, 
none  of  us  will  ever  forget  our  Midnight  in  the  Heart  of  the 
Great  Pyramid. 

In  recalling  this  memory  of  Egypt,  my  object  is  not 
merely  to  fiu-nish  a  poetical  and  romantic  description,  but  to 
invite  the  attention  of  the  most  sober  readers  to  what  may 
well  be  a  study  and  an  instruction.  This  Pyramid  was  the 
greatest  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World  in  the  time  of 
the  Greeks,  and  it  is  the  only  one  now  standing  on  the  earth. 
May  it  not  be  that  it  contains  some  wisdom  of  the  ancients  that 
is  worthy  the  attention  of  the  boastful  moderns ;  some  secret 
and  sacred  lore  which  the  science  of  the  present  day  may 
well  study  to  reveal?  It  may  be  (as  Piazzi  Smyth  argues 
in  his  learned  book)  that  we  who  are  now  upon  the  earth 


BEMAKKABLE   FEATURES.  89 

have  "  an  inheritance  in  the  Great  Pyramid  ;  "  that  it  was 
built  not  merely  to  swell  the  pride  of  the  Pharaohs,  and  to 
be  the  wonder  of  the  Egyptians  ;  but  for  our  instruction,  on 
whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come.  Without  fdving  our 
adhesion  in  advance  to  any  theory,  there  are  certain  facts, 
clearly  apparent,  which  give  to  this  structure  more  than  a 
monumental  interest.  For  thousands  of  years  it  had  been 
supposed  to  have  been  built  for  a  royal  tomb — for  that  and 
that  only.  So  perhaps  it  was — and  perhaps  not.  At  any 
rate  a  very  slight  observation  will  show  that  it  was  built  also 
for  other  purposes.     For  example  : 

Observe  its  geographical  position.  It  stands  at  the  apex 
of  the  Delta  of  the  Nile,  and  Piazzi  Smyth  claims,  in  the 
centre  of  the  habitable  globe  !  He  has  a  map  in  which 
its  point  is  fixed  in  Africa,  yet  between  Europe  and  Asia, 
and  which  shows  that  it  stands  in  the  exact  centre  of  the 
land  surface  of  the  whole  world.  This,  if  it  be  an  accident, 
is  certainly  a  singular  one. 

Then  it  is  exactly  on  the  thirtieth  'parallel  of  latitude, 
and  it  stands  four-square,  its  four  sides  facing  exactly  the 
four  points  of  compass — North,  South,  East,  and  West. 
Now  the  chances  are  a  million  to  one  that  this  could  not 
occur  by  accident.  There  is  no  need  to  argue  such  a  matter. 
It  was  certainly  done  by  design,  and  shows  that  the  old 
Egyptians  knew  how  to  draw  a  meridian  line,  and  to  take 
the  points  of  compass,  as  accurately  as  the  astronomers  of  the 
present  day. 

Equally  evident  is  it  that  they  were  able  to  measure  the 
solar  year  as  exactly  as  modern  astronomers.  Taking  the 
sacred  cubit  as  the  unit  of  measure  there  are  in  each  side  of 
the  Pyramid  just  3G5|-  cubits,  which  gives  not  only  the 
number  of  days  in  the  year,  but  the  six  hours  over  ! 

That  it  was  built  for  astronomical  purposes,  seems  prob- 
able from  its  very  structure.  Professor  Proctor  argues  that 
it  was  erected  for  purposes  of  astrology  !     Never  was  there 


90  ITS   ASTRONOMICAL   DESIGN. 

such  an  observatory  in  the  world.  Its  pinnacle  is  the  lofti- 
est ever  placed  in  the  air  by  human  hands.  It  seems  as  if 
the  Pyramid  were  built  like  the  tower  of  Babel,  that  its  top 
might  "  touch  heaven."  From  that  great  height  one  has 
almost  a  perfect  horizon,  looking  oflf  upon  the  level  valley  of 
the  Nile.  It  is  said  that  it  could  not  have  been  ascended 
because  its  sides  were  covered  with  polished  stone.  But 
may  there  not  have  been  a  secret  passage  to  the  top  ?  It  is 
hard  to  believe  that  such  an  elevation  was  not  made  use  of 
by  a  people  so  much  given  to  the  study  of  the  stars  as  were 
the  ancient  Egyptians.  In  some  way  we  would  believe  that 
the  priests  and  astrologers  of  Egypt  were  able  to  climb  to 
that  point,  where  they  might  sit  all  night  long  looking  at  the 
constellations  through  that  clear  and  cloudless  sky;  watching 
Orion  and  the  Pleiades,  as  they  rose  over  the  Mokattam  hills 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Nile,  and  set  behind  the  hills  of  the 
Libyan  desert. 

There  is  another  very  curious  fact  in  the  Pyramid,  that 
the  passage  by  whidi  it  is  entered  points  directly  to  the 
North  Star,  and  yet  not  to  the  North  Star  that  now  is,  but  to 
Alpha  Draconis,  which  was  the  North  Star  four  thousand 
years  ago.  This  is  one  way  in  which  the  age  of  the  Pyramid 
is  determined,  for  it  is  found  by  the  most  exact  calculations 
that  2170  years  before  Christ,  a  man  placed  at  the  bottom  of 
that  passage,  as  at  the  bottom  of  a  well,  and  looking  upward 
through  that  shaft,  as  if  he  were  looking  through  the  great 
telescope  of  Lord  Rosse,  would  fix  his  eye  exactly  on  the 
North  Star — the  pole  around  which  was  revolving  the  whole 
celestial  sphere.  As  is  well  known,  this  central  point  of  the 
heavens  changes  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  but  that  star  will 
come  around  to  the  same  point  in  25,800  years  more,  when, 
if  the  Pyramid  be  still  standing,  the  observers  of  that  remote 
period  can  again  look  upward  and  see  Alpha  Draconis  on  his 
throne,  and  mark  how  the  stars  "return  again"  to  their 
places  in  the  everlasting  revolutions  of  the  heavens. 


MEA8UKEMENT   OF   TIME.  91 

As  to  the  measurement  of  time,  all  who  have  visited  as- 
tronomical observatories  know  the  extreme  and  almost  infi- 
nite pains  taken  to  obtain  an  even  temperature  for  clocks. 
The  slightest  increase  of  temperature  may  elongate  the  pen- 
dulum, and  so  affect  the  duration  of  a  second,  and  this, 
though  it  be  in  a  degree  so  infinitesimal  as  to  be  almost 
inappreciable,  yet  becomes  important  to  the  accuracy  of  com- 
putations, when  a  unit  has  to  be  multiplied  by  hundreds  of 
millions,  as  it  is  in  calculating  the  distances  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.  To  obviate  this  difficulty,  astronomical  clocks  are 
sometimes  placed  in  apartmeuts  under  ground,  closed  in  with 
thick  walls  (where  even  the  door  is  rarely  opened,  but  the 
observations  are  made  through  a  glass  window),  so  thab  it 
cannot  be  affected  by  the  variations  of  temperature  of  the 
outer  world.  But  here,  in  the  heart  of  this  mountain  of 
stone,  the  temperature  is  preserved  at  an  absolute  equilibrium, 
so  that  there  is  no  expansion  by  heat  and  no  contraction  by 
cold.  What  are  all  the  observatories  of  Greenwich,  and  Paris 
and  Pulkowa,  to  such  a  rock-built  citadel  as  the  Great  Pyra- 
mid? 

But  not  only  was  the  Pyramid  designed  to  stand  right  in 
its  position  towards  the  earth  and  the  heavenly  bodies  ;  but 
also,  and  perhaps  chiefly  (so  argues  Prof.  Smyth)  was  it  de- 
signed for  metrological  (not  meteorological)  purposes — to 
furnish  an  exact  standard  of  weights  and  measures.  The  unit 
of  lineal  measure  used  in  the  Pyramid  he  finds  to  correspond 
not  to  the  English /bo^,  nor  to  the  French  metre,  but  to  the 
Hebrew  saci'ed  cubit.  This  is  certainly  a  curious  coincidence, 
hut  may  it  not  prove  simply  that  the  latter  was  derived  from 
the  former  ?  Moses  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  may  have  brought  from  the  Valley  of  the 
Nile  weights  and  measures,  as  well  as  customs  and  laws. 

But  this  cubit  itself,  wherever  it  came  from,  has  some  very 
remarkable  correspondences.  French  and  English  mathema- 
ticians and  astronomers  have  had  great  difficulty  to  fix  upon 


VZ  MATHEMATICAL   CALCULATIONS. 

an  exact  standard  of  lineal  measure.  Their  method  has  been 
to  take  some  length  which  had  an  exact  relation  to  one  of 
the  unchangeable  spaces  or  distances  of  the  globe  itself. 
Thus  the  English  inch  is  one  five  hundred  millionth  part  of 
the  axis  of  the  earth.  But  Prof.  Smyth  finds  in  the  Great 
Pyramid  a  still  better  standard  of  measure.  The  cubit  con- 
tains twenty-five  of  what  he  calls  "  Pyramid  inches,"  and 
fi.fty  of  these  are  just  equal  to  one  ten-millionth  part  of  the 
earth's  axis  of  rotation !  He  finds  in  the  Pyramid  a  greater 
wonder  still  in  a  measure  for  determining  the  distance  of  the 
earth  from  the  sun,  which  is  the  unit  for  calcvilating  the  dis- 
tances of  the  heavenly  bodies  !  That  which  scientific  expedi- 
tions have  been  sent  into  all  parts  of  the  earth  within  the 
last  two  years  to  determine  by  more  accui'ate  observations  of 
the  transit  of  Venus,  is  more  exactly  told  in  the  Great  Pyra- 
mid erected  four  thousand  years  ago  ! 

It  is  a  very  fascinating  study  to  follow  this  learned  profes- 
sor in  his  elaborate  calculations.  He  seems  to  think  the 
whole  of  the  exact  sciences  contained  in  the  Great  Pyramid. 
The  vacant  chest  of  red  granite  in  the  King's  Chamber,  over 
which  Egyptologists  have  puzzled  so  much,  is  to  him  as  the 
very  ark  of  the  Lord.  That  which  has  been  supposed  to  be 
a  sarcophagus,  with  no  other  interest  than  as  having  once 
held  a  royal  mummy,  he  holds  not  to  be  the  tomb  of  Cheops, 
or  of  any  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  but  a  sacred  coffer  intended 
to  serve  as  a  standard  of  weights  and  measures  for  all  time  to 
come.  He  thinks  it  accomplishes  perfectly  the  arithmetical 
feat  of  squaring  the  circle  ! — the  height  being  to  the  circum- 
ference of  the  base,  as  the  radius  is  to  the  circumference  of  a 
circle. 

But  the  Great  Pyramid  has,  to  Professor  Smyth,  more 
than  a  scientific — it  has  a  religious  interest.  Ue  is  a  Scotch- 
man, and  not  only  a  man  of  science,  but  one  who  believes, 
vs^ith  all  the  energy  of  his  Scotch  nature,  in  a  Divine  revela- 
tion j  and  as  raiglit  be  supposed,  he  connects  this  monument 


KELIGIOUS   INTEEEST.  93 

of  scientific  learning  with  One  who  is  the  source  of  all  wis- 
dom and  knowledge.  However  great  may  have  been  the 
wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,  he  does  not  believe  that  they  had 
a  knowledge  of  geodesy  and  astronomy  greater  than  the  most 
learned  scientific  men  of  our  day.  He  has  another  explana- 
tion, that  the  Great  Pyramid  was  built  by  the  guidance  of 
Him  who  led  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt,  and  who,  as  he 
shone  upon  their  path  in  the  desert,  now  shines  by  this  light- 
house and  signal  tower  upon  the  blindness  and  ignorance  of 
the  world.  He  believes  that  the  Pyramid  was  constructed 
by  Divine'  inspiration  just  as  much  as  the  Jewish  Tabernacle ; 
that  as  Moses  was  commanded  to  fashion  everything  accord- 
ing to  the  pattern  showed  to  him  in  the  Mount,  so  some  an- 
cient King  of  Egypt,  working  under  Divine  inspiration, 
builded  better  than  he  knew,  and  wrought  into  enduring 
stone,  truths  which  he  did  not  perhaps  himself  understand, 
but  which  were  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time,  and  to  testify 
to  a  later  generation  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God.  As  to  its 
age  he  places  it  somewhei-e  between  the  time  of  Noah  and 
the  calling  of  Abraham.  Dr.  Grant  even  thinks  it  was  built 
before  the  death  of  Noah  !  But  mankind  could  hardly  have 
multiplied  in  the  earth  in  the  lifetime  of  even  the  oldest  of 
the  patriarchs,  so  as  to  be  capable  of  building  such  monu- 
ments. The  theory  is  that  it  was  not  built  by  an  Egyptian 
architect.  There  is  a  tradition  mentioned  in  Herodotus  of  a 
shepherd  who  came  from  a  distant  country,  from  the  East, 
who  had  much  to  do  with  the  building  of  the  Pyramid,  and 
was  regarded  as  a  heavenly  visitant  and  director.  Prof. 
Smyth  thinks  it  probable,  that  this  visitor  was  Melchisedek  ! 
He  even  gives  the  Pyramid  a  prophetic  character,  and  thinks 
that  the  different  passages  and  chambers  are  designed  to  be 
symbolical  of  the  different  economies  through  which  God 
educates  the  race.  The  entrance  at  first  descends.  That  may 
represent  the  gradual  decadence  of  mankind  to  the  time  of 
the  Flood,  or  to  the  exodus  of  the  Israelites.     Then  the  pas- 


94  18   IT   A   KEVELATION   IN   STONE  ? 

sage  begins  to  ascend^  but  slowly  and  painfully,  which  repre- 
sents the  Jewish  Dispensation,  when  men  were  struggling 
towards  the  light.  After  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet 
of  this  stooping  and  creeping  upward,  there  is  a  sudden  en- 
largement, and  the  low  passage  rises  up  into  the  Grand  Gal- 
lery, just  as  the  Mosaic  economy,  after  groping  through  many 
centuries,  at  last  bursts  into  the  full  glory  of  the  Christian 
Dispensation. 

Believing  in  its  inspired  character,  he  finds  in  eveiy  part 
of  this  wonderful  structure  signs  and  symbols.  Taking  it 
as  an  emblem  of  Christian  truth,  where  is  the  chief  corner- 
stone ?  Not  at  the  base,  but  at  the  top — the  apex  !  At  the 
bottom,  there  are  four  stones  which  are  equal — no  one  of 
which  is  above  another — the  chief  corner-stone  therefore 
miist  be  the  capstone  ! 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  is  a  very  original  and  very 
sweeping  theory ;  that  it  overturns  all  our  ideas  of  the  Great 
Pyramid ;  that  it  not  only  turns  Cheops  out  of  it,  but  turns 
Science  and  Revelation  together  into  it.  We  may  well 
hesitate  before  accepting  it  in  its  full  extent,  and  yet  we 
must  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  Prof.  Smyth.  He 
has  certainly  given  a  new  interest  to  this  hoary  monument 
of  the  past.  Scientific  men  who  reject  his  theory  are  still 
deeply  interested  in  the  facts  which  he  brings  to  light,  which 
they  recognize  as  very  extraordinary,  and  which  show  a 
degree  of  scientific  knowledge  which  not  only  they  did  not 
believe  to  exist  among  the  Egyptians,  but  which  hardly 
exists  in  our  day. 

So  much  as  this  we  may  freely  concede,  that  the  Pyramid 
has  a  scientific  value,  if  not  a  sacred  character ;  that  it  is 
full  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,  if  not  of  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Almighty ;  and  that  it  is  a  storehouse  of  ancient 
knowledge,  even  if  it  be  not  the  very  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 
in  which  the  holiest  mysteries  are  enshrined  ! 

Leaving  out  what  may  be  considered  fanciful  in  the  spec- 


FAREWELL   TO   THE   PYRAMID.  95 

Illations  of  the  Scotch  astronomer,  there  is  yet  much  in  the 
facts  he  presents  worthy  the  consideration  of  the  man  of 
science,  as  well  as  the  devout  attention  of  the  student  of 
the  Bible,  and  which,  if  duly  weighed,  will  at  once  enlarge 
our  knowledge  and  sti-engthen  our  faith. 

Such  are  the  lessons  that  we  derive  from  even  our  slight 
acquaintance  with  the  Great  Pyramid  ;  and  so,  as  we  looked 
back  that  night,  and  saw  it  standing  there  in  the  moonlight, 
its  cold  gray  summit,  its  "  cldef  corner-stone,"  pointing 
upwards  to  the  clear  unclouded  firmament,  it  seemed  to 
point  to  something  above  the  firmament — to  turn  our  eyes 
and  thoughts  to  Heaven  and  to  God. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LEAVING  EGYPT — THE  DESERT. 

We  left  Cairo  the  next  morning.  Our  depai'ture  from 
Egypt  was  not  exactly  like  that  of  the  Israelites,  though  we 
came  through  the  land  of  Goshen,  and  by  the  way  of  the 
Red  Sea.  We  did  not  flee  away  at  night,  nor  hear  the  rush 
of  horses  and  chariots  behind  us.  Indeed  we  were  very 
reluctant  to  flee  at  all  ;  we  did  not  like  to  go  away,  for  in 
those  five  or  six  weeks  we  had  grown  very  fond  of  the  coun- 
try, to  which  the  society  of  agreeable  travelling  companions 
lent  an  additional  charm. 

But  the  world  was  all  before  us,  and  necessity  bade  us 
depart.  It  was  the  6th  of  January,  the  beginning  of  th« 
feast  of  Bairam,  tlie  Mohammedan  Passover.  The  guns  of 
the  Citadel  ushered  in  the  day,  obseived  by  all  devout  Mus- 
sulmans, which  commemorates  the  sacrifice  by  Abraham — not 
of  Isaac,  but  of  Ishmael^  for  the  Arabs,  who  are  descendants 
of  Ishmael,  have  no  idea  of  his  being  set  aside  by  the  other 
son  of  the  Father  of  the  Faithful.  On  this  day  every  family 
sacrifices  the  paschal  lamb  (which  explains  the  flocks  of 
sheep  which  we  had  seen  for  several  days  in  the  streets  of 
the  city),  and  sprinkles  its  blood  upon  the  lintels  and  door- 
posts of  their  houses,  that  the  angel  of  death  may  pass  them 
by.  The  day  is  one  of  general  rejoicing  and  festivity.  The 
Khedive  gives  a  grand  reception  to  all  the  foreign  represen- 
tatives at  his  palace  of  Gezireh,  at  which  I  had  been  invited 
to  be  present.  But  from  this  promised  pleasure  I  had  to 
tear  myself  away,  to  reach  the  steamer  at  Suez  on  which  we 


LEAVING   EGYPT.  97 

•were  to  embark  the  next  day  for  India.  But  if  we  mLssed 
the  Khedive,  we  had  at  least  a  compensation,  for  as  we  were 
iiC  the  station,  who  should  appear  but  Nubar  Pasha  !  He 
had  just  resigned  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  which 
took  a  load  off  his  shoulders,  and  felt  like  a  boy  out  of 
school,  and  was  now  going  off  to  a  farm  which  he  has  a  few 
miles  from  Cairo,  to  have  a  holiday.  He  immediately  came 
to  us  and  took  a  seat  in  the  same  carriage,  and  we  sat  to- 
gether for  an  hour,  listening  to  his  delightful  conversation, 
as  he  talked  of  Egypt  with  a  patriot's  love  and  a  poet's 
enthusiasm.  There  is  no  man  who  more  earnestly  wishes 
its  prosperity,  and  it  would  be  well  for  the  Khedive  if  lie 
were  always  guided  by  such  advisers.  At  the  station  his 
servants  met  him  with  one  of  those  beautiful  white  donkeys, 
so  much  priced  in  the  East,  and  as  he  rode  away  waving  his 
hand  to  us,  we  felt  that  we  were  parting  from  one  of  the 
wisest  and  wittiest  men  whom  it  had  been  our  good  fortune 
to  meet  in  all  our  travels. 

At  Zagazig,  the  railroad  from  Cairo  unites  with  that  from 
Alexandria.  Here  we  stopped  to  dine,  and  while  waiting,  a 
special  train  arrived  with  Mr.  Cave,  who  has  come  out  from 
London  to  try  and  put  some  order  into  the  financial  affairs 
of  Egypt.  If  he  succeeds,  he  will  deserve  to  be  i-anked  very 
high  as  a  fijiancier.  He  was  going  on  to  Ismailia  to  meet 
M.  de  Lesseps,  that  they  might  go  through  the  Suez  Canal 
together. 

And  now  we  leave  behind  us  the  rich  land  of  Goshen, 
where  Joseph  placed  his  father  Jacob  and  his  brethren,  with 
their  flocks  and  herds ;  we  leave  the  fertile  meadows  and  the 
palm  groves.  We  are  on  the  track  of  the  Israelites ;  we 
have  passed  Ramesea,  the  first  station  in  their  march,  and 
entered  the  desert,  that  "  great  and  terrible  wilderness  "  in 
which  they  wandered  forty  years.  We  enter  it,  not  on 
camels  or  horses,  but  drawn  by  a  steed  of  fire.  A  railway 
in  the  desert !     This  is  progress  indeed.     There  is  something 


98  THE   BOEDER    LINE    OF    ASIA    AND   AFRICA. 

very  imposing  to  the  imagination  in  the  idea  of  an  iron 
track  laid  in  the  pathless  sands,  over  which  long  trains  move 
swifter  than  "  the  swift  dromedaries,"  and  carrying  burdens 
greater  than  the  longest  caravans.  These  are  the  highways 
of  civilization,  which  may  yet  carry  it  into  the  heart  of 
Africa.  Here,  too,  are  the  great  ships,  passing  through  the 
Suez  Canal,  whose  tall  masts  are  outlined  against  the  hori- 
zon, as  they  move  slowly  from  sea  to  sea. 

And  now  we  are  approaching  the  border  line  between 
Asia  and  Africa,  It  is  an  invisible  line;  no  snow-capped 
mountains  divide  the  mighty  continents  which  were  the  seats 
of  the  most  ancient  civilization ;  no  sea  flows  between  them  : 
the  Red  Sea  terminates  over  seventy  miles  from  the  Mediter- 
ranean ;  even  the  Suez  Canal  does  not  divide  Asia  and  Africa, 
for  it  is  wholly  in  Egypt.  Nothing  marks  where  Africa 
ends  and  Asia  begins,  but  a  line  in  the  desert,  covered  by 
drifting  sands.  And  yet  there  is  something  which  strangely 
touches  the  imagination,  as  we  move  forward  in  the  twilight, 
with  the  sun  behind  us,  setting  over  Africa,  and  before  us 
the  black  night  coming  on  over  the  whole  continent  of  Asia. 

So  would  I  take  leave  of  Africa — in  the  Night  and  in  the 
Desert.  Byron  closes  his  Childe  Harold  with  an  apostrophe 
to  the  Ocean,  his  Pilgrim  ending  his  wanderings  on  the  shore. 
The  Desert  is  like  the  Sea :  it  fills  the  horizon,  and  shuts  out 
the  sight  of  "  busy  cities  far  away,"  leaving  one  on  the 
boundless  plain,  as  on  the  Ocean — alone  with  the  Night. 
Perhaps  I  may  be  indulged  in  some  quiet  musings  here, 
before  we  embark  on  the  Red  Sea,  and  seek  a  new  world  in 
India. 

But  what  can  one  say  of  the  desert?  The  subject  seems 
as  barren  as  its  own  sands.  Life  in  the  desert?  There  is 
no  life ;  it  is  the  very  realm  of  death,  where  not  a  blade  of 
grass  grows,  nor  even  an  insect's  wing  flutters  over  the 
mighty  desolation;  the  only  objects  in  motion,  the  clouds 
that  flit  across  the  sky,  and  cast  their  shadows  on  the  barren 


THE  DE8EET.  99 

■waste  below ;  and  the  only  sign  that  man  has  ever  passed 
over  it,  the  bleaching  bones  that  mark  the  track  of  caravans. 

But  as  we  look,  behold  "  a  wind  cometh  out  of  the  North," 
and  stirring  the  loose  sand,  whirls  it  into  a  column,  which 
moves  swiftly  towards  us  like  a  ghost,  as  if  it  said  :  "  I  am 
the  spii-it  of  the  desert ;  man,  wherefore  comest  thou  here  ? 
Pass  on.  If  thou  invadest  long  my  realm  of  solitude  and 
silence,  I  will  make  thy  grave."  We  shall  not  linger,  but 
only  "tarry  for  a  night,"  to  question  a  little  the  mystery 
that  lies  hidden  beneath  these  drifting  sands. 

We  look  again,  and  we  see  shadowy  forms  coming  out  of 
the  whirlwind — ^gi-eat  actors  in  history,  as  well  as  figures  of 
the  imagination.  The  horizon  is  filled  with  moving  caravans 
and  marching  armies.  Ancient  conquerors  pass  this  way  for 
centuries  from  Asia  into  Africa,  and  back  again,  the  wave 
of  conquest  flowing  and  reflowing  from  the  valley  of  the 
Tigi-is  to  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  As  we  leave  the  Land  of 
Goshen,  we  hear  behind  us  the  tramp  of  the  Israelites  be- 
ginning their  march ;  and  as  the  night  closes  in,  we  see  in 
another  quarter  of  the  horizon  the  wise  men  of  the  East 
coming  from  Arabia,  following  their  guiding  star,  which 
leads  them  to  Bethlehem,  where  Christ  was  born. 

And  so  the  desert  which  was  "  dead  "  becomes  *'  alive  ;  " 
a  whole  living  world  starts  up  from  the  sands,  and  glides 
into  view,  appearing  suddenly  like  Arab  horsemen,  and  then 
vanishing  as  if  it  had  not  been,  and  leaving  no  trace  in  the 
sands  any  more  than  is  left  by  a  wreck  that  sinks  in  the 
ocean.  But  like  the  sea,  it  has  its  passing  life,  which  has  a 
deep  human  interest.  And  not  only  is  there  a  life  of  the 
desert,  but  a  literature  which  is  the  expression  of  that  life — 
a  history  and  a  poetry,  which  take  their  color  from  these 
peculiar  forms  of  nature — and  even  a  music  of  the  desert, 
sung  by  the  camel-drivers,  to  the  slow  movement  of  the  cara- 
van, its  plaintive  cadence  keeping  time  to  the  tinkling  of 
the  bells. 


100  BEAUTY   OF   TIIE   DESERT. 

It  has  been  one  of  the  problems  of  physical  geographers : 
What  was  the  use  of  deserts  in  the  economy  of  nature  ?  A 
large  part  of  Africa  is  covered  by  deserts.  The  Libyan 
Desert  reaches  to  the  Sahara,  which  stretches  across  the  con- 
tinent. All  this  seems  an  utterly  waste  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface.  The  same  question  has  been  raised  in  regard  to  the 
sea :  Why  is  it  that  three-fourths  of  the  globe  are  covered  by 
water?  Perhaps  the  same  answer  may  bo-  given  in  both 
cases.  These  vast  spaces  may  be  the  generators  and  puri- 
fiers of  the  air  we  breathe — the  renovators  of  our  globe's  at- 
mosphere. 

And  the  desert  has  its  beauty  as  well  as  its  utility.  It  is 
not  all  a  dead  level,  a  boundless  monotony,  but  is  billowy 
like  the  sea,  with  great  waves  of  sand  cast  up  by  the  wan- 
dering winds.  The  color,  of  course,  is  always  the  same,  for 
there  is  no  green  thing  to  relieve  the  yellow  sand.  But  na- 
ture sometimes  produces  great  effects  with  few  materials. 
This  monotony  of  color  is  touched  with  beauty  by  the  glow 
of  sunset,  as  the  light  of  day  fades  over  the  wide  expanse. 
Sunrise  and  sunset  on  the  desert  have  all  the  simple  but 
grand  effects  of  sunrise  and  sunset  on  the  ocean.  What 
painter  that  lias  visited  Egypt  has  not  tried  to  put  on  canvas 
that  after-glow  on  the  Nile,  which  is  alike  his  wonder  and 
his  despair  ?  Egypt  is  one  of  the  favorite  countries  sought 
by  European  artists,  who  seek  to  catch  that  marvellous  color 
which  is  the  effect  of  its  atmospliere.  They  find  many  a 
subject  in  the  desert.  With  the  accessories  of  life,  few  as 
they  are,  it  presents  many  a  scene  to  attract  a  painter's  eye, 
and  furnishes  full  scope  to  his  genius.  A  great  artist  finds 
ample  material  in  its  bare  and  naked  outlines,  relieved  by  a 
few  solitary  figures — the  Arab  and  his  tent,  or  the  camel  and 
his  rider.  Perhaps  the  scene  is  simply  a  few  palm  trees  be- 
side a  spring,  under  whose  shade  a  traveller  has  laid  him  down 
to  rest  from  the  noon-tide  heat,  and  beside  him  are  camels 
feeding  !     But  here  is  already  a  picture.     With  what  effect 


DWELLERS   IN   THE  DESERT.  101 

does  Gerome  give  the  Prayer  in  the  Desert,  with  the  camel 
kneeling  on  the  sands,  and  his  rider  kneeling  beside  him, 
with  his  face  turned  towards  Mecca  ;  or  Death  in  the  Desert, 
where  the  poor  beast,  weaiy  and  broken,  is  abandoned  to  die, 
yet  murmurs  not,  but  has  a  look  of  patience  and  resignation 
that  is  most  pathetic,  as  the  vultures  are  seen  hovering  in 
the  air,  ready  to  descend  on  their  prey  ! 

A  habitat  so  peculiar  as  the  desert  must  produce  a  life  as 
peculiar.  It  is  of  necessity  a  lonely  life.  The  dweller  in 
tents  is  a  solitary  man,  without  any  fixed  ties,  or  local  habi- 
tation. Whoever  lives  on  the  desert  must  live  alone,  or  with 
few  companions,  for  there  is  nothing  to  support  existence. 
It  must  be  also  a  nomadic  life.  If  the  Arab  camps,  with  his 
flocks  and  herds,  in  some  green  spot  beside  a  spring,  yet  it 
is  only  for  a  few  days,  for  in  that  time  his  sheep  and  cattle 
have  consumed  the  scanty  herbage,  and  he  must  move  on  to 
some  new  resting-place.  Thus  the  life  of  the  desert  is  a  life 
always  in  motion.  The  desert  has  no  settled  population,  no 
towns  or  villages,  whei-e  men  are  boi-n,  and  grow  up,  and  live 
and  die.  Its  only  "  inhabitants  "  are  "  strangers  and  pil- 
grims," that  come  alone  or  in  caravans,  and  pitch  their  tents, 
and  tarry  for  a  night,  and  are  gone. 

Such  a  life  induces  peculiar  habits,  and  breeds  a  peculiar 
class  of  virtues  and  vices.  Nomadic  tribes  are  almost  always 
robbers,  for  they  have  to  fight  for  existence,  and  it  is  a  des- 
perate straggle.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  their  solitary  life 
as  well  as  the  command  of  the  prophet,  has  taught  them  the 
virtue  of  hospitality.  Living  alone,  they  feel  at  times  the 
sore  need  of  the  presence  of  their  kind,  and  welcome  the 
companionship  even  of  strangers.  An  Arab  sheik  may  Live 
by  preying  on  travellers,  but  if  a  wanderer  on  the  desert  ap- 
proaches his  tent  and  asks  shelter  and  protection,  he  gives  it 
freely.  Even  though  the  old  chief  be  a  robber,  the  stranger 
sleeps  in  peace  and  safety,  and  his  entertainer  is  rewarded  by 
the  comfort  of  seeing  a  human  face  and  hearing  a  human  voice. 


102  THE   CAMEL   AND   CAMEL-KmER. 

To  traverse  spaces  so  vast  and  so  desolate  would  not  be 
possible  were  it  not  for  that  faithful  beast  of  burden  which 
nature  has  provided.  Horses  may  be  used  by  the  Bedouins 
on  their  marauding  expeditions,  but  they  keep  near  the  bor- 
ders of  the  desert,  where  they  can  make  a  dash  and  fly ;  but 
on  the  long  journey  across  the  Great  Sahara,  by  which  the 
outer  world  communicates  with  the  interior  of  Afiica,  no 
beast  could  live  but  the  camel,  whicli  is  truly  the  ship  of  the 
desert.  Paley  might  find  an  argument  for  design  in  the  pe- 
culiar structure  of  the  camel  for  its  purpose  ;  in  its  stom- 
ach, that  can  carry  water  for  days,  and  its  foot,  which  is  not 
small  like  that  of  the  horse,  but  broad,  to  keep  the  huge  ani- 
mal from  sinking  in  the  sands.  It  serves  as  a  snow-shoe, 
and  bears  up  both  the  beast  and  his  rider.  Then  it  is  not 
hard  like  a  horse's  hoof,  that  rings  so  sharp  on  the  pavement, 
but  soft  almost  like  a  lion's  paw.  And  tall  as  the  creature 
is,  he  moves  with  a  swinging  gait,  that  is  not  unpleasant  to 
one  accustomed  to  it,  and  as  he  comes  down  on  his  soft  foot, 
the  Arab  mother  sits  at  ease,  and  her  child  is  lulled  to  rest 
almost  as  if  rocked  in  a  cradle. 

Tlius  moving  on  in  these  slow  and  endless  marches,  what  so 
natural  as  that  the  camel-riders  should  beguile  their  solitude 
with  song  ?  The  lonely  heart  relieves  itself  by  pouring  its 
loves  and  its  sorrows  into  the  air ;  and  hence  come  those 
Arabian  melodies,  so  wild  and  plaintive  and  tender,  which 
constitute  the  music  of  the  desert.  Some  years  since  a  sym- 
phony was  produced  in  Paris,  called  "  The  Desert,"  which 
created  a  great  sensation,  deriving  its  peculiar  charm  from  its 
tinlikeness  to  European  music.  It  awakened,  as  it  were,  a 
new  sense  in  those  who  had  been  listening  all  their  lives  to 
French  and  German  operas.  It  seemed  to  tell — as  music  only 
tells — the  story  of  the  life  of  the  desert.  In  listening  one  could 
almost  see  the  boundless  plain,  broken  only  by  the  caravan, 
moving  slowly  across  the  waste.  He  could  almost  "  feel  the 
silence "  of  that  vast  solitude,  and  then  faintly  in  the  dis- 


MUSIC    AND   POIiTRY    OF   THE   DESERT.  103 

tance  was  heard  the  tinkling  of  the  camel-bells,  and  the  song 
of  the  desert  rose  upon  the  evening  air,  as  softly  as  if  clois- 
tered nuns  were  singing  their  vesper  hymns.  The  novel  con- 
ception took  the  fancy  of  the  pleasure  seekers  of  Paris,  always 
eager  for  a  new  sensation.  The  symphony  made  the  fame  of 
the  composer,  Felicien  David,  who  was  thought  to  have  shown 
a  very  original  genius  in  the  composition  of  melodies,  such  as 
Europe  had  not  heard  befoi'e.  The  secret  was  not  discovered 
until  some  French  travellers  in  the  East,  crossing  the  desert, 
heard  the  camel-drivers  singing  and  at  once  recognized  the 
airs  that  had  so  taken  the  enthusiasm  of  Paris.  They  were 
the  songs  of  the  Arabs.  The  music  was  born  on  the  desert, 
and  produced  such  an  effect  precisely  because  it  was  the  out- 
burst of  a  passionate  nature  brooding  in  solitude. 

Music  and  poetry  go  together :  the  life  that  produces  the  one 
produces  the  other  also.  And  as  there  is  a  music  of  the  des- 
ert, so  there  is  a  poetry  of  the  desert.  Indeed  the  desert  may 
be  almost  said  to  have  been  the  birthplace  of  poetry.  The 
Book  of  Job,  the  oldest  poem  in  the  world,  older  than  Homer, 
and  grander  than  any  uninspired  composition,  was  probably 
wiitten  in.  Arabia,  and  is  full  of  the  imagery  of  the  desert. 

But  while  the  mind  carols  lightly  in  poetry  and  music,  its 
deeper  musings  take  the  form  of  Keligion.  It  is  easy  to  see 
how  the  life  "of  the  desert  must  act  upon  a  thoughtful  and 
"  naturally  religious  "  mind.  The  absence  of  outward  objects 
throws  it  back  upon  itself;  and  it  broods  over  the  great 
mystery  of  existence.  Coleridge's  Ancient  Mariner,  when  he 
was 


found  that 


"  Alone  on  the  wide,  wide  sea," 

"  So  lonely  'twas  that  God  himself 
Scarce  seemSd  there  to  be." 


But  in  the  desert  one  may  say  there  is  nothing  but  God.    If 
there  is  little  of  earth,  there  is  much  of  heaven.   The  glory  of 


104  RELIGION   IN   THE  DESERT. 

the  desert  is  at  night,  when  the  full  moon  rises  out  of  the  level 
plain,  as  out  of  the  sea,  and  walks  the  unclouded  firmament. 
And  when  she  retires,  then  all  the  heavenly  host  come  forth. 
The  atmosphere  is  of  such  exquisite  purity,  that  the  stars 
shine  with  all  their  splendor.  No  vapor  rises  from  the  earth, 
no  exhalation  obscures  the  firmament,  which  seems  all  aglow 
with  the  celestial  fires.  It  was  such  a  sight  that  kindled  the 
mind  of  Job,  as  he  looked  up  fi'om  the  Arabian  deserts  three 
thousand  years  ago,  and  saw  Orion  and  the  Pleiades  keeping 
their  endless  march ;  and  as  led  him  to  sing  of  the  time  "  when 
the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God 
shouted  for  joy." 

Is  it  strange  that  God  should  choose  such  a  vast  and  silent 
temple  as  this  for  the  education  of  those  whom  He  would  set 
apart  for  his  own  service  ?  Here  the  Israelites  were  led  apart 
to  receive  the  law  from  the  immediate  presence  of  God.  The 
desert  was  their  school,  the  place  of  their  national  education. 
It  separated  them  from  their  own  history.  It  drew  a  long 
track  between  them  and  the  bitter  past.  It  was  a  fit  intro- 
duction to  their  new  life  and  their  new  religion,  as  to  their 
new  country. 

In  such  solitudes  God  has  had  the  most  direct  commun- 
ion with  the  individual  soul.  It  was  in  the  desert  that  Moses 
hid  himself  in  a  cleft  of  the  rock  wliile  the  Lord  passed  by ; 
that  the  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind ;  and  from 
it  that  John  the  Baptist  came  forth,  as  the  voice  of  one  cry- 
ing in  the  wilderness. 

So  in  later  ages  holy  men  who  wished  to  shun  the  tempta- 
tions of  cities,  that  they  might  lead  lives  of  meditation  and 
prayer,*  fled  to  the  desert,  that  they  might  forget  the  world 
and  live  for  God  alone.  This  was  one  of  the  favorite  retreats 
of  Monasticism  in  the  early  Christian  centuries.  The  tombs 
of  the  Thebaid  were  filled  with  monks.  Convents  were  built 
on  the  cliffs  of  Mount  Sinai  that  remain  to  this  day. 

We  do  not  feel  the  need  of  such  seclusion  and  separation 


LIFE   A   DE8EKT,   AND   ALL   MEN   PILGRIMS.  105 

from  the  world,  but  this  passing  over  the  desert  sets  the  mind 
at  work  and  supplies  a  theme  for  religious  meditation.  Is  not 
life  a  desert,  where,  as  on  tlie  sea,  all  paths  are  lost,  and  the 
traveller  can  only  keep  his  course  by  observations  on  the 
stars  ?  And  are  we  not  all  pilgrims  ?  Do  we  not  all  belong 
to  that  slow  moving  caravan,  that  marches  steadily  across  the 
waste  and  disappears  in  the  horizon?  Can  we  not  help  some 
poor  wanderer  who  may  be  lonely  and  friendless,  or  who  may 
have  faltered  by  the  way ;  or  guide  another,  if  it  be  only  to 
go  before  him,  and  leave  our  footprints  in  the  sands,  that 

"  A  forlorn  and  shipwrecked  brother, 
Seeing  may  take  heart  again?  " 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ON  THE  RED  SEA  AND  THE  INDIAN  OCEAN. 

Suez  lies  between  the  desert  and  the  sea,  and  is  the  point 
of  departure  both  for  ships  and  caravans.  But  the  great 
canal  to  which  it  gives  its  name,  has  not  returned  the  favor 
by  giving  it  prosperity.  Indeed  the  country  through  which 
it  passes  derives  little  benefit  from  its  construction.  Before 
it  was  opened,  Egypt  was  on  the  overland  route  to  India, 
from  which  it  derived  a  large  revenue.  All  passengers  had 
to  disembark  at  Alexandria  and  cross  by  railroad  to  Suez ; 
while  freight  had  to  be  unshipped  at  the  one  city  and  re- 
shipped  at  the  other,  and  thus  pay  tribute  to  both.  Now 
ships  pass  directly  from  the  Mediterranean  into  the  canal, 
and  from  the  canal  into  the  Red  Sea,  so  that  the  Englishman 
who  embarks  at  Southampton,  need  not  set  his  foot  on  the 
soil  of  Egypt.  Thus  it  is  not  Egypt  but  England  that  profits 
by  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal ;  while  Egypt  really  suffers 
by  the  completion  of  a  work  which  is  of  immense  benefit  to 
the  commerce  of  the  world. 

Though  the  Suez  Canal  is  an  achievement  of  modern  times, 
yet  the  idea  is  not  modern,  nor  indeed  the  first  execution.  It 
was  projected  from  almost  the  earliest  period  of  history,  and 
was  begun  under  the  Pharaohs,  and  was  at  one  time  com- 
pleted, though  not,  as  now,  solely  for  the  passage  of  ships, 
but  also  as  a  defence,  a  gigantic  moat,  which  might  serve  as 
a  barrier  against  invasions  from  Asia. 


EMBAEKING   AT   SUEZ.  107 

There  is  nothing  in  Suez  to  detain  a  traveller,  and  with 
the  morning  we  were  sailing  out  in  one  of  the  native  boats, 
before  a  light  wind,  to  the  great  ship  lying  in  the  harbor, 
which  was  to  take  us  to  India.  We  had,  indeed,  a  foretaste, 
or  rather  foresight,  of  what  we  were  soon  to  look  upon  in  the 
farthest  East,  as  we  saw  some  huge  elephants  moving  along 
the  quay ;  but  these  were  not  familiar  inhabitants,  but  had 
just  been  disembarked  from  a  ship  arrived  only  the  day  before 
from  Bombay — a  present  from  the  Viceroy  of  India  to  the 
Viceroy  of  Egypt. 

Once  on  board  ship  I  was  as  in  mine  own  country,  for  now, 
for  the  fii'st  time  in  many  months,  did  I  hear  constantly  the 
English  language.  We  had  been  so  long  in  Europe,  and 
heard  French,  German,  Italian,  Greek  and  Turkish ;  and 
Arabic  in  Egypt ;  that  at  first  I  started  to  hear  my  own 
mother  tongue.  I  could  not  at  once  get  accustomed  to  it,  but 
called  to  the  waiter  "  gai'9on,"  and  was  much  surprised  that 
he  answered  in  English.  But  it  was  very  pleasant  to  come 
back  to  the  speech  of  my  chOclhood.  Henceforth  English 
will  carry  me  around  the  globe.  It  is  the  language  of  the  sea, 
and  of  "  the  ends  of  the  earth ; "  and  it  seems  almost  as  if  the 
good  time  were  coming  when  the  whole  eai'th  should  be  of  one 
language  and  of  one  speech. 

And  now  we  are  on  the  Red  Sea,  one  of  the  historical  seas 
of  the  world,  Not  far  below  the  town  of  Suez  is  supposed 
to  be  the  spot  where  the  Israelites  were  hemmed  in  between 
the  mountains  and  the  sea;  where  Moses  bade  the  waves 
divide,  and  the  fleeing  host  rushed  in  between  the  uplifted 
walls,  feeling  that,  if  they  perished,  the  waters  were  more 
merciful  than  their  oppressors  ;  while  behind  them  came  the 
chariots  of  their  pursuers. 

It  was  long  before  we  lost  sight  of  Egypt.  On  our  right 
was  the  Egyptian  coast,  still  in  view,  though  growing 
dimmer  on  the  horizon ;  and  as  we  sat  on  deck  at  evening 
the  gorgeous  sunsets  flamed  over  those  shores,  as  they  did 


108  THE   KED   SEA. 

on  the  Nile,  as  if  reluctant  to  leave  the  scene  of  so  much 
glory. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  sea  stretched  the  Peninsula  of 
Sinai,  with  its  range  of  rugged  mountains,  among  which 
the  eye  soiight  the  awful  summit  from  which  God  gave  the 
law. 

This  eastern  side  of  the  Red  Sea  has  been  the  birthplace 
of  religions.  Half  way  down  the  coast  is  Jhidda,  the  port 
of  Mecca.  Thus  Islam  was  born  not  far  from  the  birth- 
place of  Judaism,  of  which  in  many  features  it  is  a  close 
imitation. 

I  have  asked  many  times.  What  gave  the  name  to  the  Red 
Sea  ?  Certainly  it  is  not  the  color  of  the  water,  which  is  blue 
as  the  sea  anywhere.  It  is  said  that  there  is  a  phosphorescent 
glow,  given  by  a  marine  insect,  which  at  night  causes  the 
waters  to  sparkle  with  a  faint  red  light.  Others  say  it  is 
from  the  shores,  which  being  the  borders  of  the  desert,  have 
its  genei-al  sandy  I'ed,  or  yellow,  appearance.  I  remember 
years  ago,  when  sailing  along  the  southern  coast  of  Wales, 
a  gentleman,  pointing  to  some  red-banked  hills,  said  they 
reminded  him  of  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea. 

But  whether  tliey  have  given  it  its  name  or  not,  these  sur- 
rounding deserts  have  undoubtedly  given  it  its  extreme  heat, 
from  which  it  has  become  famous  as  "  the  hottest  place  in  the 
world."  The  wind  blowing  off  from  these  burning  sands, 
scorches  like  a  sirocco ;  nor  is  the  heat  much  tempered  by 
the  coolness  of  the  sea — for  indeed  the  water  itself  becomes 
heated  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  a  serious  impediment  to  the 
rapid  condensation  of  steam. 

We  began  to  feel  the  heat  immediately  after  leaving  Suez. 
The  very  next  day  officers  of  the  ship  appeared  in  white 
linen  pantaloons,  which  seemed  to  me  a  little  out  of  season ; 
but  I  soon  found  that  they  were  wiser  than  I,  especially  as 
the  heat  increased  from  day  to  day  as  we  got  more  into  the 
tropics.     Then,  to  confess  the  truth,  they  sometimes  appeared 


HEAT  OS   THE   BED    SEA.  109 

on  deck  in  the  early  morning  in  the  most  neglige  attire.  At 
first  I  was  a  little  shocked  to  see,  not  only  officers  of  the 
ship,  but  officers  of  the  army,  of  high  rank,  coming  on  deck 
after  their  baths  barefoot ;  but  I  soon  came  to  understand 
how  they  should  be  eager,  when  they  were  almost  burning 
with  fever,  to  be  relieved  of  even  the  slightest  addition  to 
weight  or  warmth.  In  the  cabin  punkas,  long  screens, 
were  hung  over  the  tables,  and  kept  swinging  all  day  long. 
The  deck  was  hung  with  double  awnings  to  keep  off  the 
sun ;  and  here  the  "  old  Indians "  who  had  made  this 
voyage  before,  and  knew  how  to  take  their  comfort  in  the 
hot  climate,  were  generally  stretched  out  in  their  reclining 
bamboo-chairs,  with  a  cigar  in  one  hand  and  a  novel  in  the 
other. 

The  common  work  of  the  ship  was  done  by  Lascars,  from 
India,  as  they  can  stand  the  heat  much  better  than  EngUsh 
Bailors.  They  are  docile  and  obedient,  and  under  the  train- 
ing of  English  officers  make  excellent  seamen. 

But  we  must  not  complain,  for  they  tell  us  our  voyage  has 
been  a  very  cool  one.  The  thermometer  has  never  been 
above  88  degrees,  which  however,  considering  that  this  is 
midwinter,  is  doing  pretty  well ! 

If  such  be  the  heat  in  January,  what  must  it  be  in  July  ? 
Then  it  is  fairly  blistering ;  the  thermometer  rises  to  110 
and  112  degrees  in  the  shade;  men  stripped  of  clothing  to 
barely  a  garment  to  cover  them,  are  panting  with  the  heat ; 
driven  from  the  deck,  they  retreat  to  the  lower  part  of  the 
ship,  to  find  a  place  to  breathe ;  sometimes  in  despair,  the 
captain  tells  me,  they  turn  the  ship  about,  and  steam  a  few 
miles  in  the  opposite  direction,  to  get  a  breath  of  air ;  and 
yet,  with  all  precautions,  he  adds  that  it  is  not  an  infrequent 
thing,  that  passengers  overpowered  sink  under  a  sunstroke 
or  apoplexy. 

Such  heat  would  make  the  voyage  to  India  one  of  real 
suffering,  and  of  serious  exposure,  were  it  not  for  the  admir- 


110  THE   GOOD   SHIP. 

able  ships  in  which  it  can  be  made.  But  these  of  the  Pen- 
insular and  Oriental  company  are  about  as  perfect  as  any- 
thing that  swims  the  seas.  We  were  fort\;nate  in  hitting 
upon  the  largest  and  best  of  the  fleet,  the  Peshawur.  Accus- 
tomed as  we  have  been  of  late  to  the  smaller  steamers  on  the 
Mediterranean,  she  seems  of  enormous  bulk,  and  is  of  great 
strength  as  well  as  size  ;  and  being  intended  for  hot  climates, 
is  constructed  especially  for  coolness  and  ventilation.  The 
state-rooms  are  much  larger  than  in  most  sea-going  steamers, 
and  though  intended  for  three  persons,  as  the  ship  was  not 
crowded  (there  were  berths  for  170  passengers,  while  we  had 
but  34,  jusfc  one-fifth  the  full  complement)  we  had  each  a 
whole  state-room  to  ourselves.  There  were  bath-rooms  in 
ample  supply,  and  we  took  our  baths  every  morning  as 
regularly  as  on  land. 

On  the  Peshawiir,  as  on  all  English  ships,  the  order  and 
discipline  were  admirable.  Every  man  knew  his  place, 
and  attended  to  his.  duty.  Everything  was  done  silently, 
and  yet  so  regularly  that  one  felt  that  there  was  a  sharp  eye 
in  every  corner  of  the  ship ;  that  there  was  a  vigilant  watch 
night  and  day,  and  this  gave  us  such  a  sense  of  safety, 
that  we  lay  down  and  rose  up  with  a  feeling  of  perfect 
security. 

Besides,  the  officers,  from  the  captain  down,  not  only  took 
good  care  for  the  safety  of  our  lives,  but  did  everything  for 
our  comfort.  They  tried  to  make  us  feel  at  home,  and  were 
never  so  well  pleased  as  when  they  saw  us  all  pleasantly 
occupied ;  some  enjoying  games,  and  others  listening  to 
music,  when  some  amateur  was  playing  on  the  piano,  at 
times  accompanied  by  a  dozen  manly  and  womanly  voices. 
Music  at  sea  helps  greatly  to  beguile  the  tedium  of  a  voyage. 
Often  the  piano  was  brought  on  deck,  at  which  an  extempo- 
rized choir  practised  the  hymns  for  public  service ;  among 
which  there  was  one  that  always  recurred,  and  that  none  can 
forgets 


ADEN.  Ill 

"  Eternal  Father,  strong  to  save, 
Whose  arm  hath  bound  the  restless  wave, 
Who  bid'st  the  mighty  ocean  deep 
Its  own  appointed  limits  keep  : 

Oh,  hear  us  when  we  cry  to  Thee 
For  those  in  peril  on  the  sea." 

And  when  the  Sunday  morning  came  and  the  same  prayers 
were  read  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  hear  in  Eng- 
land, many  who  listened  felt  that,  whatever  oceans  they 
might  cross,  here  was  a  tie  that  bound  them  to  their  island 
home,  and  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers. 

On  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  we  passed  the  island  of 
Perim,  which  guards  the  Grates  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  during 
the  day  passed  many  islands,  and  were  in  full  sight  of  the 
Arabian  coast,  and  at  the  evening  touched  at  Aden.  Here 
the  heat  reaches  the  superlative.  In  going  down  the  Red 
Sea,  one  may  use  all  degrees  of  comparison — hot,  hotter, 
hottest — and  the  last  is  Aden.  It  is  a  barren  point  of  rock 
and  sand,  within  twelve  degrees  of  the  Equator,  and  the  town 
is  actually  in  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano,  into  which  the 
sun  beats  down  with  the  heat  of  Nebuchadnezzai-'s  furnace. 
But  the  British  Government  holds  it,  as  it  commands  the 
entrance  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  has  fortified  it,  and  keeps  a 
garrison  here.  However  it  mercifully  sends  few  English 
soldiers  to  such  a  spot,  but  supplies  the  place  chiefly  with 
native  regiments  from  India.  All  the  officers  hold  the  place 
in  horror,  counting  it  a  very  purgatory,  from  which  it  is 
Paradise  to  be  transferred  to  India. 

But  from  this  point  the  great  oppression  of  the  heat  ceased. 
Rounding  this  rock  of  Aden,  we  no  longer  bore  southward 
(which  would  have  taken  us  along  the  Eastern  coast  of 
Africa,  to  the  island  of  Zanzibar,  the  point  of  departure  for 
Livingstone  to  explore  the  interior,  and  of  Stanley  to  find 
him),  but  tm-ned  to  the  East,  and  soon  met  the  Northeast 


112  ON   THE   INDIAN   OCEAN. 

monsoon,  which,  blowing  in  onr  faces,  kept  us  comparatively 
cool  all  the  way  across  the  Indian  Ocean. 

And  now  our  thoughts  began  to  be  busy  with  the  strange 
land  which  we  were  soon  to  see,  a  land  to  which  most  of  those 
on  board  belonged,  and  of  which  they  were  always  ready  to 
converse.  Strangers  to  each  other,  we  soon  became  acquaint- 
ed, and  exchanged  our  experiences  of  travel.  Beside  me  at 
the  table  sat  a  barrister  from  Bombay,  and  next  to  him  three 
merchants  of  that  city,  who,  leaving  their  families  in  Eng- 
land, were  returning  to  pursue  their  fortunes  in  India.  One 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  and  all  were 
familiar  with  the  politics  and  the  business  of  that  great 
Empire.  There  was  also  a  missionary  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  who,  after  ten  years'  service,  had  been  allowed  a 
year  and  a  half  to  recruit  in  the  mother  country,  and  was 
now  returning  to  his  field  of  labor  in  Bombay,  with  whom  I 
had  many  long  talks  about  the  religions  of  India  and  the 
prospects  of  missions.  There  was  a  fine  old  gentleman  who 
had  made  his  fortune  in  Australia,  to  which  he  was  returning 
with  his  family  after  a  visit  to  England. 

The  military  element,  of  course,  was  very  pi'ominent.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  passengers  wei-e  connected  in  some 
way  with  the  army,  oflScers  returning  to  their  regiments,  or 
officers'  wives  returning  to  their  husbands.  Of  course  those 
who  live  long  in  India,  have  many  experiences  to  relate ; 
and  it  was  somewhat  exciting  to  hear  one  describe  the  par- 
ticulars of  a  tiger  hunt — how  the  game  of  all  kind  was  driven 
in  from  a  circuit  of  miles  around  by  beaters,  and  by  elej)hant8 
trained  for  the  work ;  how  the  deer  and  lesser  animals  fled 
frightened  by,  while  the  hunter,  bent  on  royal  game,  dis- 
dained such  feeble  prey,  and  every  man  reserved  his  fire,  sit- 
ting in  his  howdah  on  the  back  of  an  elephant  till  at  last  a 
magnificent  Bengal  tiger  sprang  into  view,  and  as  the  balls 
rained  on  his  sides,  with  a  tremendous  bound  he  fell  at  the 
feet  of  the  hunters ;  or  to  hear  a  Major  who  had  been  in 


FELLOW   PASSENGERS.  113 

India  during  the  Mutiny,  describe  the  blowing  away  of 
the  Sepoys  from  the  mouths  of  cannon ;  with  what  fierce 
pride,  like  Indian  warriors  at  the  stake,  they  shrank  not 
from  the  trial,  but  even  when  not  bound,  stood  un- 
moved before  the  guns,  till  they  were  blown  to  pieces,  their 
legs  and  arms  and  mangled,  breasts  scattered  wide  over  the 
field. 

There  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Bengal  Staff  Corps,  Dr.  Bel- 
lew,  who  had  travelled  extensively  in  the  interior  of  Asia, 
attached  to  several  missions  of  the  Government,  and  had  pub- 
lished a  volume,  entitled  "  From  the  Indus  to  the  Tigris." 
He  gave  me  some  of  his  experiences  in  Afghanistan,  among 
the  men  of  Cabul,  and  in  Persia.  Three  years  since  he  was 
attached  to  the  mission  of  Sir  Douglas  Forsyth  to  Kashgar 
and  Yarkund.  This  was  a  secret  embassy  of  the  govern- 
ment to  Yakoob  Beg,  the  Tartar  chief,  who  by  his  courage  as 
a  soldier  had  established  his  power  in  those  distant  regions 
of  Central  Asia.  In  carrying  out  this  mission,  the  party 
crossed  the  Himalayas  at  a  height  far  greater  than  the  top 
of  Mont  Blanc.  Our  fellow  traveller  gave  us  some  fearful 
pictures  of  the  desolation  of  those  snowy  wastes,  as  well  as 
some  entei'taining  ones  of  the  strange  manners  of  some  parts 
of  High  Asia.  He  passed  through  Little  Thibet,  where 
prevails  the  singular  custom  of  polyandry — instead  of  one 
man  having  many  wives,  one  woman  may  have  many  husbands, 
although  they  cannot  be  of  different  families.  She  can  marry 
half  a  dozen  brothers  at  once,  but  must  not  extend  her  house- 
hold into  another  family.  He  was  now  bound  for  Nepaul, 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Himalayas,  being  ordered  to  report 
at  once  to  the  Maharajah,  who  is  preparing  to  receive  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  to  entertain  him  with  the  grandest 
tiger  hunt  ever  known  in  India. 

With  such  variety  of  company,  and  such  talk  to  enliven 
the  hours,  as  we  sat  on  deck  at  twilight,  or  by  moonlight — 
for  we  had  the  full  moon  on  the  Indian  Ocean — the  days  did 


114  AERIVAL   IN   INDIA. 

not  seem  long,  and  we  were  almost  taken  by  surprise  as  we 
approached  the  end  of  our  voyage. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  twelfth  day  from  Suez  we 
were  nearing  our  destined  port,  and  eyes  and  glasses  were 
turned  in  that  direction;  but  it  was  not  till  the  sun  was 
setting  that  his  light  shone  full  on  the  Ghauits,  the  range 
of  mountains  that  line  the  western  coast  of  India — steps,  as 
their  name  implies,  to  the  high  table-land  of  the  interior. 
Presently  as  the  darkness  deepened,  the  revolving  light  of 
the  lighthouse  shot  across  the  deep ;  signal  guns  from  the 
city  announced  the  arrival  of  the  mail  from  England ;  rows 
of  lamps  shining  for  miles  round  the  bay  lighted  up  the 
waters  and  the  encircling  shore ;  and,  there  was  India ! 


CHAPTER  X. 

BOMBAY — FIRST    IMPRESSIONS    OF    INDIA. 

Never  did  travellers  open  their  eyes  with  more  of  wonder 
and  curiosity  than  we,  as  we  awoke  the  next  morning  and 
went  on  deck  and  turned  to  the  unaccustomed  shore.  The  sun 
had  risen  over  the  Ghauts,  and  now  cast  his  light  on  the 
islands,  covered  with  cocoanut  palms,  and  on  the  forest  of 
shipping  that  lay  on  the  tranquil  waters.  Here  were  ships 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  not  only  from  the  Mediterranean 
and  from  England,  but  from  every  part  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
and  from  Australia.  A  few  weeks  before  had  been  witnessed 
here  a  brilliant  sight  at  the  landing  of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
A  long  arched  way  of  trellis  work,  still  hung  with  faded  wreaths, 
marked  the  spot  where  the  future  Emperor  of  India  first  set 
foot  upon  its  soil.  Our  ship,  which  had  anchored  ofi"  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor,  now  steamed  up  to  her  moorings,  a  tug 
took  us  off  to  the  Mazagon  Bunder,  the  landing  place  of  the 
Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company,  where  we  mounted  a  long 
flight  of  granite  steps  to  the  quay — and  were  in  India. 

Passing  through  the  Custom  House  gates,  we  were  greeted 
not  by  the  donkey-boys  of  Egypt,  but  by  a  crowd  of  bare- 
footed and  barelegged  Hindoos,  clad  in  snowy  white,  and 
with  mountainous  turbans  on  their  heads,  who  were  ambi- 
tious of  the  honor  of  driving  us  into  the  city.  The  native 
carriage  (or  gharri,  as  it  is  called)  is  not  a  handsome  equi- 
page. It  is  a  mere  box,  oblong  in  shape,  set  on  wheels,  having 
latticed  windows  like  a  palanquin,  to  admit  the  air  and  shut 
out  the  sun.     Mounting  into  such  a  "  State  carriage,"  our 


116  STEANGE   POPULATION. 

solemn  Hindoo  gave  rein  to  his  steed,  and  we  trotted  off  into 
Bombay.  As  our  destination  was  Watson's  Hotel,  in  the 
Englisli  quarter  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  city,  we  traversed 
almost  its  whole  extent.  The  streets  seemed  endless.  On 
and  on  we  rode  for  miles,  till  we  were  able  to  realize  that  we 
were  in  the  second  city  in  the  British  empire — larger  than 
any  in  Great  Britain  except  London — larger  than  Liverpool 
or  Glasgow,  or  Manchester  or  Bii-mingham. 

Of  course  the  population  is  chiefly  native,  and  this  it  is 
which  excites  my  constant  wonder.  As  I  ride  about  I  ask 
myself,  Am  I  on  the  earth,  or  in  the  moon  ?  Surely  this 
must  be  some  other  planet  than  the  one  that  I  have  known 
before.  I  see  men  as  trees  walking,  but  they  are  not  of  any 
familiar  form  or  speech.  Perhaps  it  is  because  we  are  on  the 
other  side  of  the  world,  and  everything  is  turned  topsy-turvy, 
and  men  are  walking  on  their  heads.  We  may  have  to 
adopt  the  Darwinian  theory  of  the  origin  of  man ;  for 
these  seem  to  be  of  another  species,  to  belong  to  another 
department  of  the  animal  kingdom.  That  old  Hindoo  that  I 
see  yonder,  sitting  against  the  wall,  with  his  legs  curled  up 
under  him,  seems  more  like  a  chimpanzee  than  a  man. 
He  has  a  way  of  sitting  on  his  heels  (a  posture  which  wo\;ld 
be  impossible  for  a  European,  but  which  he  will  keep  for 
hours),  which  is  more  like  an  animal  than  a  human  creature. 

Truly  we  have  never  been  in  sucli  a  state  of  bewilderment 
since  we  began  our  travels,  as  since  we  landed  in  Bombay. 
Constantinople  seemed  strange,  and  Egypt  stranger  still ;  but 
India  is  strangest  of  all.  The  streets  are  swarming  with  life, 
as  a  hive  swarms  with  bees.  The  bazaars  are  like  so  many 
ant-hills,  but  the  creatures  that  go  in  and  out  are  not  like 
any  race  that  we  have  seen  before.  "They  are  not  white  like 
Europeans,  nor  black  like  Africans,  nor  red  like  our  Ameri- 
can Indians ;  but  are  pure  Asiatics,  of  a  dark-brown  color, 
the  effect  of  which  is  the  greater,  as  they  are  generally  clad 
in  the  garments  which  nature  gives  them.     The  laboring  class 


COSTUMES   OF   MEN   AND   WOMEN.  117 

go  half  naked,  or  more  than  half.  It  is  only  the  house- 
servants  that  wear  anything  that  can  be  called  a  costume. 
The  coolies,  or  common  laborers,  have  only  a  strip  of  cloth 
around  their  loins,  which  they  wear  for  decency,  for  in  this 
climate  they  scarcely  need  any  garment  for  warmth.  One  thing 
which  is  never  omitted  is  the  turban,  or  in  its  place  a  thick 
blanket,  to  shield  the  head  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun. 
But  there  is  nothing  to  hide  the  swarthy  breast  or  limbs. 
Those  of  a  better  condition,  who  do  put  on  clothing,  show 
the  Oriental  fondness  for  gorgeous  apparel  by  having  the 
richest  silk  turbans  and  flowing  robes.  The  women  find  a 
way  to  show  their  feminine  vanity,  being  tricked  out  in 
many  colors,  dark  red,  crimson  and  scarlet,  with  yellow  and 
orange  and  green  and  blue — the  mingling  of  which  produces 
a  strange  efiect  as  one  rides  through  the  bazaars  and  crowded 
streets,  which  gleam  with  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  The 
effect  of  this  tawdry  finery  is  heightened  by  the  gewgaws 
which  depend  from  different  parts  of  their  persons.  Eamngs 
are  not  sufficiently  conspicuous  for  a  Hindoo  damsel,  who  has 
a  ring  of  gold  and  pearl  hung  in  her  nose  ;  which  is  considered 
a  great  addition  to  female  beauty.  Heavy  bracelets  of  silver 
also  adorn  her  wrists  and  ankles.  Almost  every  woman  who 
shows  herself  in  the  street,  though  of  the  lowest  condition, 
and  barefoot,  still  gratifies  her  pride  by  huge  silver  anklets 
clasping  her  naked  feet. 

But  these  Asiatic  faces,  strange  as  they  are,  would  not  be 
unattractive  but  for  artificial  disfigurements — if  men  did  not 
chew  the  betel  nut,  which  turns  the  lips  to  a  brilliant  red, 
and  did  not  have  their  foreheads  striped  with  coarse  pig- 
ments, which  are  the  badges  of  their  different  castes  ! 

Imagine  a  whole  city  crowded  with  dark  skinned  men  and 
women  thus  dressed — or  not  dressed — ^balf  naked  on  the  one 
hand,  or  bedizened  like  harlequins  on  the  other,  walking 
about,  or  perchance  riding  in  little  carriages  drawn  by  oxen — 
a  small  breed  that  trot  off  almost  as  fast  as  the  donkeys  we 


118  OEIENTAL  MANNERS. 

had  in  Cairo — and  one  may  liave  some  idea  of  the  picturesque 
appearance  of  the  streets  of  Bombay. 

We  are  becoming  accustomed  to  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  this  eastern  world.  We  never  sit  down  to  dinner 
but  with  the  punka  swinging  over  us,  and  the  "punka- 
walla,"  the  coolie  who  swings  it,  is  a  recognized  institution. 
In  the  hot  months  it  is  kept  swinging  all  night,  and  Euro- 
peans sleep  under  it.  These  things  strike  iis  strangely  at 
first,  but  we  soon  get  used  to  these  tropical  devices,  and  in 
fact  rather  like  them.  In  a  few  days  we  have  become  quite 
Oriental.  To  confess  the  truth,  there  are  some  things  here 
in  the  East  that  are  not  at  all  disagreeable  to  the  natural 
man,  especially  the  devices  for  coolness  and  comfort,  and  the 
extreme  deference  to  Europeans,  which  we  begin  to  accept  as 
naturally  belonging  to  us. 

At  first  I  was  surprised  and  amused  at  the  manners  of  the 
people.  It  was  a  new  sensation  to  be  in  this  Asiatic  atmos- 
phere, to  be  surrounded  and  waited  \ipon  by  soft-footed  Hin- 
doos, who  glided  about  noiselessly  like  cats,  watching  every 
look,  eager  to  anticipate  every  wish  before  they  heard  the 
word  of  command.  I  was  never  the  object  of  such  reverence 
before.  Every  one  addressed  me  as  "  Sahib."  I  did  not 
know  at  first  what  this  meant,  but  took  it  for  granted  that 
it  was  a  title  of  respect — an  impression  confirmed  by  the 
deferential  manner  of  the  attendants.  I  could  not  walk 
through  the  corridor  of  the  hotel  without  a  dozen  servants 
rising  to  their  feet,  who  remained  standing  till  I  had  passed. 
I  was  a  little  taken  aback  when  a  turbaned  Oriental,  in  flow- 
ing robe,  approached  me  with  an  air  of  profound  reverence, 
bending  low,  as  if  he  would  prostrate  himself  at  my  feet.  If 
he  desired  to  present  a  petition  to  my  august  majesty  (which 
was,  probably,  that  I  would  buy  a  cashmere  shawl),  he  bowed 
himself  almost  to  the  ground,  and  reached  down  his  hand 
very  low,  and  then  raising  it,  touched  his  forehead,  as  if  he 
would  take  up  the  dust  of  the  earth  and  cast  it  on  his  head, 


RIDES   ABOUT   THE   CrPY.  119 

in  token  that  he  was  unworthy  to  enter  into  such  an  awful 
presence.  I  never  knew  before  how  great  a  being  I  was. 
There  is  nothing  like  going  far  iiway  from  home,  to  the  other 
side  of  the  world,  among  Hindoos  or  Hottentots,  to  be  fully 
appreciated. 

After  a  little  experience,  one  learns  to  accept  these  Hin- 
doo salaams  and  obeisances.  Now,  when  I  walk  down  the 
passages  of  the  hotel,  and  snowy  turbans  rise  on  either  side 
in  token  of  homage,  I  bow  in  acknowledgment,  though  very 
slightly,  so  as  not  to  concede  a  particle  of  my  dignity,  or 
encourage  any  familiarity.  When  I  open  my  door  in  the 
morning,  I  find  half  a  dozen  coolies  in  the  passage,  who  have 
curled  up  on  mats  and  slept  there  all  night,  as  Napoleon's 
Mameluke  slept  before  his  master's  door.  It  gives  one  a 
sense  of  dignity  and  importance  to  be  thus  served  and 
guarded  and  defended  !  I  suspect  all  of  us  have  a  little  (or 
a  good  deal)  of  the  Asiatic  in  our  composition,  and  could 
easily  play  the  pasha  and  drop  into  these  soft  Eastern  ways, 
and  find  it  not  unpleasant  to  recline  on  a  divan,  and  be 
waited  on  by  dusky  slaves  ! 

We  find  that  we  are  in  a  tropical  climate  by  the  heat  that 
oppresses  us.  Although  it  is  midwinter,  we  find  it  prudent 
as  well  as  pleasant  to  remain  indoors  in  the  middle  of  the 
day  (time  which  is  very  precious  for  writing),  and  make  our 
excursions  in  the  morning  or  evening. 

Morning  in  the  tropics  is  delightful.  There  is  a  dewy- 
freshness  in  the  air.  Rising  at  daylight  we  take  a  small  open 
carriage — a  kind  of  "  one  horse  shay  " — for  our  ride.  It  has 
but  one  seat,  but  the  Hindoo  driver,  nimble  as  a  cat, 
crouches  at  our  feet,  with  his  legs  dangling  over  the  side  in 
front  of  the  wheels,  and  thus  mounted  we  gallop  olf  gayly. 

One  of  our  morning  excursions  was  to  the  Flower  Market, 
where  the  fruits  and  flowers  of  the  country  are  displayed 
with  truly  tropical  profusion.  The  building,  designed  with 
English  taste,  is   of  great   extent,   surrounding  a  spacious 


120  THE   PUBLIC   GARDENS. 

court,  which  is  laid  out  like  a  garden,  with  fountains  and 
ferns,  and  flowering  shrubs  and  creepers  growing  hixuriantly. 
Here  are  offered  for  sale  all  kinds  of  poultry  and  birds,  par- 
rots, and  even  monkeys.  The  Plower  Market  is  especially 
brilliant,  as  flowers  are  the  customary  offerings  at  temples. 
They  are  very  cheap.  Five  cents  bovight  a  large  bunch  of 
roses.  White  jessamines  and  yellow  marigolds  are  wrought 
into  wreaths  and  garlands  for  their  festivities.  The  fruits 
we  liked  less  than  the  flowers.  They  were  very  tempting  to 
the  eye,  but  too  rich  for  our  appetite.  The  famous  mango 
cloyed  us  with  its  sweetness.  Indeed,  I  made  the  observa- 
tion here,  which  I  had  to  repeat  afterwards  in  Java,  that  the 
tropical  fruits,  though  large  and  luscious,  had  not  the  deli- 
cate flavor  of  our  Northern  fruits.  A  good  New  Jersey 
peach  would  have  been  far  sweeter  to  my  taste  than  the 
ripest  orange  or  mango,  or  the  longest  string  of  bananas. 

Tn  the  evening  we  ride  out  to  Malabar  Hill,  or  go  to  the 
public  gardens  which  English  taste  has  laid  out  in  different 
parts  of  the  city.  Although  Bombay  is  a  city  of  Hindoos, 
yet  the  stamp  of  English  rule  is  everywhere  impressed  upon 
it.  Like  the  cities  of  Gx'eat  Britain,  it  is  thoroughly  gov- 
erned. The  hand  of  a  master  is  seen  in  its  perfect  police, 
its  well  ordered  and  well  lighted  streets.  There  are  signs  of 
its  being  gained  by  conquest  and  held  by  military  power. 
The  English  quarter  is  still  called  the  Fort,  being  on  the  site 
of  an  old  fortress,  the  ramparts  of  which  are  all  swept  away, 
and  in  their  place  ai-e  wide  streets  (indeed  too  wide  for  shade), 
and  a  number  of  public  buildings — Government  offices,  the 
Postoffice,  and  the  Telegraph  Building,  and  the  University — 
which  would  be  an  ornament  to  any  city  in  England.  Here 
English  taste  comes  in  to  add  to  its  natural  beauty  in  the  lay- 
ing out  of  open  squares.  Our  windows  at  the  Hotel  look  out 
upon  the  Esplanade,  a  large  parade  ground,  the  very  spot 
where  the  Sepoys  were  shot  away  from  the  guns  after  the 
mutiny,  and  upon  the  sea,  from   which   comes   at   evening 


ENTIKONS   OF   BOMBAY.  121 

a  soft,  delicious  air  from  the  Indian  ocean.  It  is  a 
pretty  sight  to  go  here  at  sunset,  when  the  band  is  play- 
ing and  there  is  a  great  turnout  of  carriages,  bringing 
the  fashion  and  wealth  of  Bombay  to  listen  to  the  music 
and  inhale  the  fresh  breezes  from  the  sea,  that  no  doubt 
are  sweeter  to  many  in  that  they  seem  to  come  from 
their  beloved  England.  In  the  crowd  of  well  dressed  people 
wealthy  Parsees  (distinguished  by  their  high  hats),  and  Hin- 
doos by  their  turbans,  mingle  with  English  officers,  and  the 
children  of  all  run  about  together  on  the  lawn.  My  com- 
panion noticed  particularly  the  Parsee  children,  whose  dresses 
were  gay  with  many  colors — little  fellows  shining  in  pink 
trousers,  blue  shirts,  green  vests,  and  scarlet  caps  !  Others 
had  satin  trousers  and  vests  of  some  bright  color,  and  over 
all  white  muslin  or  lace  trimmings.  The  effect  of  such  a 
variety  of  colors  was  as  if  parterres  of  flowers  were  laid  out 
on  the  smooth  shaven  lawn.  In  another  part  of  the  city  the 
Victoria  Gardens  are  set  out  like  a  Botanical  Garden,  with 
all  manner  of  plants  and  trees,  especially  with  an  endless 
variety  of  palms,  under  which  crowds  saunter  along  the 
avenues,  admiring  the  wonders  of  tropical  vegetation,  and 
listening  to  the  music  that  fills  the  evening  air. 

The  environs  of  Bombay  are  very  beautiful.  Few  cities 
have  a  more  delightful  suburb  than  Malabar  Hill,  where  the 
English  merchant,  after  the  business  of  the  day  is  over,  re- 
treats from  the  city  to  enjoy  a  home  which,  though  Indian 
without,  is  English  within.  Hundreds  of  bungalows  are 
clustered  on  these  eminences,  shaded  with  palms  and  embow- 
ered in  tropical  foliage,  with  steep  roofs,  always  thatched  as  a 
better  protection  fi-om  the  sun.  Here  the  occupants  sit  at 
evening  on  the  broad  verandahs,  stretched  in  their  long  bam- 
boo chairs,  enjoying  the  cool  air  that  comes  in  from  the  sea, 
and  talk  of  England  or  of  America. 

There  are  not  many  Americans  in  Bombay,  although  in  one 
way  the  city  is,  or  was,  closely  connected  with  our  country. 


122  CONNECTION   WITH   AMERICA. 

Nowhei'e  was  the  effect  of  our  civil  war  more  felt  than  in 
India,  as  it  gave  a  great  impetus  to  its  cotton  production. 
Under  the  sudden  and  powerful  stimulus,  Bombay  started  up 
into  an  artificial  prosperity.  Fortunes  were  made  rapidly. 
The  close  of  the  war  brought  a  panic  from  which  it  has  not 
yet  recovered.  But  the  impulse  given  has  remained,  and  I 
am  told  that  there  is  at  this  moment  more  cotton  grown  in 
India  than  ever  before,  although  the  fall  in  prices  has  cut  off 
the  great  profits.  But  the  cost  of  transportation  is  much  less, 
as  the  railroads  constructed  within  a  few  years  afibrd  the 
means  of  bringing  it  to  market,  where  before  it  had  to  be 
drawn  slowly  over  the  mountains  in  ox-carts.  This  flow  of 
cotton  to  the  seaports  has  been  turned  to  account  by  the 
erection  of  cotton  mills  (several  of  which  have  been  started 
here  in  Bombay),  which,  under  the  direction  of  Englishmen, 
and  having  the  double  advantage  of  native  cotton  and  native 
labor,  may  yet  supplant  English  fabiics  in  the  markets  of 
India. 

Though  there  are  few  Americans  (except  the  missionaries) 
here,  yet  there  is  one  who  has  all  the  enterprise  of  his  coun- 
trymen, Mr.  Kittredge,  who  came  out  to  India  many  years  ago, 
and  is  now  the  head  of  the  old  house  of  Stearns,  Hobart  &  Co. 
He  has  introduced  that  peculiarly  American  institution,  the 
street  railway — or  tramway,  as  it  is  called  hei"e — which  is  a 
great  comfort  in  moving  about  the  city,  where  transportation 
before  was  chiefly  by  little  ox-carts.  The  cars  run  smoothly, 
and  as  they  are  open  at  the  sides  are  delightfully  cool.  The 
Hindoos,  though  slow  in  adopting  new  ideas  or  new  ways, 
take  to  these  as  an  immense  convenience.  Not  the  least  good 
effect  is  the  pressure  which  they  bring  to  bear  on  caste,  by 
forcing  those  of  different  castes  to  sit  side  by  side  ! 

A  very  singular  people,  found  in  Bombay,  and  nowhere 
else  in  India,  are  the  Parsees,  who  differ  from  the  Hindoos 
both  in  race  and  religion.  They  are  followers  of  Zoroaster, 
the  philosopher  of  Persia,  from  which  they  were  driven  out  cen- 


THE  PAR8EE8.  128 

turies  ago  by  the  merciless  followers  of  the  Prophet,  and 
took  refuge  in  Western  India,  and  being,  as  a  class,  of  supe- 
rior intelligence  and  education,  they  have  risen  to  a  high  posi- 
tion. They  are  largely  the  merchants  of  Bombay,  and  among 
them  are  some  of  its  wealthiest  citizens,  whose  beautiful 
houses,  surrounded  with  gardens,  line  the  road  to  Parell,  the 
residence  of  the  Governor.  They  are  fire-worshippers,  ador- 
ing it  as  the  principle  of  life.  Morning  and  evening  they 
may  be  seen  uncovering  their  heads,  and  turning  reverently 
to  the  rising  or  the  setting  sun,  and  offering  their  adoration 
to  the  great  luminary,  which  they  regard  as  the  source  of 
all  life  on  earth.  As  I  have  seen  them  on  the  seashore, 
turning  their  faces  to  the  setting  sun,  and  lifting  their  hands 
as  if  in  prayer,  I  have  thought,  that  if  this  be  idolatry,  it  is 
at  least  not  so  degrading  as  that  of  the  Hindoos  around  them, 
for  if  they  bow  to  a  material  object,  it  is  at  least  the  most 
glorious  which  they  see  in  nature.  The  more  intelligent  of 
them,  however,  explain  that  it  is  not  the  sun  itself  they  wor- 
ship, but  only  regard  it  as  the  brightest  symbol  and  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Invisible  Deity.  But  they  seem  to  have  an  idola- 
trous reverence  for  fire,  and  keep  a  lamp  always  burning  in 
their  houses.  It  is  never  suffered  to  go  out  day  nor  night, 
from  year  to  year.  The  same  respect  which  they  show  to 
fire,  they  show  also  to  the  other  elements — earth,  air,  and 
water. 

A  revolting  application  of  their  principles  is  seen  in  their 
mode  of  disposing  of  the  dead.  They  cannot  bum  them,  as 
do  the  Hindoos,  lest  the  touch  of  death  should  pollute  the 
flames  ;  nor  can  they  bury  them  in  the  earth,  nor  in  the  sea, 
for  earth  and  water  and  air  are  all  ali^e  sacred.  They  there- 
fore expose  the  bodies  of  their  dead  to  be  devoured  by  birds 
of  the  air.  Outside  of  Bombay,  on  Malabar  Hill,  are  three 
or  four  circular  towers — called  The  Towers  of  Silence, 
which  are  enclosed  by  a  high  wall  to  keep  observers  at  a  dis- 
tance.    When  a  Parsee  dies,  his  body  is  conveyed  to  the 


124  THE   TOWERS    OF    SILENCE. 

gates,  and  there  received  by  the  priests,  by  whom  it  is  expos- 
ed on  gratings  constructed  for  the  purpose. 

Near  at  hand,  perched  in  groves  of  palms,  are  the  vultures. 
We  saw  them  there  in  great  numbers.  As  soon  as  a  funeral 
procession  approaches,  they  scent  their  prey,  and  begin  to 
circle  in  the  air ;  and  no  sooner  is  a  body  uncovered,  and 
left  by  the  attendants,  than  a  cloud  of  black  wings  settles 
down  upon  it,  and  a  hundred  horned  beaks  are  tearing  at 
the  flesh.  Such  are  their  numbers  and  voracity,  that  in  a  few 
minutes — so  we  are  told — every  particle  is  stripped  from  the 
bones,  which  are  then  slid  down  an  inclined  plane  into  a  deep 
pit,  where  they  mingle  with  common  clay. 

Compared  with  this,  the  Hindoo  mode  of  disposing  of 
the  dead,  by  burning,  seems  almost  like  Christian  burial. 
Yet  it  is  done  in  a  mode  which  is  very  offensive.  In  re- 
turning from  Malabar  Plill  one  evening,  along  the  beautiful 
drive  around  the  bay,  we  noticed  a  number  of  furnace-like 
openings,  where  fires  were  burning,  from  which  proceeded  a 
sickening  smell,  and  were  told  that  this  was  the  burning  of 
the  bodies  of  the  Hindoos  ! 

This  mode  of  disposing  of  the  dead  may  be  defended  on 
grounds  of  health,  especially  in  great  cities.  But,  at  any 
rate,  I  wish  there  was  nothing  worse  to  be  said  of  the  Hin- 
doos than  their  mode  of  treating  the  forms  from  which  life 
has  departed.  But  their  religion  is  far  more  cruel  to  the 
living  than  to  the  dead. 

To  one  who  has  never  been  in  a  Pagan  country,  that  which 
is  most  new  and  strange  is  its  idolatry.  Bombay  is  full  of 
temples,  which  at  certain  hoiirs  are  crowded  with  worship- 
pers. Here  they  flock  every  morning  to  perform  their  de- 
votions. There  is  nothing  like  the  orderly  congregation 
gathered  in  a  Christian  house  of  worship,  sitting  quietly  in 
their  places,  and  listening  to  a  sermon.  The  peoi)le  come 
and  go  at  will,  attending  to  their  devotions,  as  they  would  to 
any  matter  of  business.     A  large  part  of  their  "  worship  " 


IDOLATRY — HINDOO   TEMPLES.  125 

consists  in  washing  themselves.  With  the  Hindoos  as  with 
the  Mohammedans,  bathing  is  a  part  of  their  religion.  The 
temple  grounds  generally  enclose  a  large  tank,  into  which 
they  plunge  every  morning,  and  come  up,  as  they  believe, 
clean  from  the  washing.  At  the  temple  of  Momba  Davi  (the 
god  who  gives  name  to  Bombay),  we  watched  these  purifica- 
tions and  other  acts  of  worship.  Within  the  enclosure,  be- 
side the  temple  filled  with  hideous  idols,  there  was  the  sacred 
cow  (which  the  people  would  consider  it  a  far  greater  crime 
to  kill  than  to  kill  a  Christian)  which  chewed  her  cud  undis- 
turbed, though  not  with  half  so  much  content  as  if  she  had 
been  in  a  field  of  sweet-scented  clover ;  and  there  stood  the 
peepul  tree,  the  sacred  tree  of  India  (a  species  of  banyan), 
round  which  men  and  women  were  walking  repeating  their 
prayers,  and  leaving  flowers  as  offerings  at  its  foot.  This 
latter  custom  is  not  peculiar  to  Pagan  countries.  In  Chris- 
tian as  well  as  in  heathen  lands  flowers  are  laid  on  the 
altar,  as  if  their  beauty  were  grateful  to  the  Unseen  Eye, 
and  their  perfume  a  kind  of  incense  to  the  object  of  devo- 
tion. Inside  the  enclosure  men  were  being  washed  and 
shaved  (on  their  heads  as  well  as  on  their  faces),  and  painted 
on  their  foreheads  (as  Catholics  might  be  with  the  sign  of 
the  cross)  to  mark  the  god  they  worship.  And  not  only  in 
the  temples,  but  along  the  streets,  in  the  houses,  which  were 
open  to  the  view  of  passers-by,  people  were  taking  plentiful 
ablutions,  almost  a  full  bath,  and  making  their  toilet,  quite 
unembarrassed  by  the  presence  of  strangers. 

These  observances  (if  divested  of  any  religious  value)  are 
not  to  be  altogether  condemned.  The  habit  of  frequent 
bathing  Ls  very  useful  in  a  sanitary  point  of  view,  especially 
in  this  hot  climate.  But  that  which  most  excites  our 
admiration  is  the  scrupulous  regularity  of  the  Hindoos 
in  their  worship.  They  have  to  "  do  their  pooja "  (that 
is,  make  their  offerings  and  perform  their  devotions)  before 
they  go  to  their  work,  or  even  partake  of  food !     Here  is 


126  HOSPITAL   FOE   ANIMALS. 

an  example  of  religious  fidelity  worthy  of  Christian  imita- 
tion. 

The  religious  ideas  of  the  Hindoos  show  themselves  in 
other  ways,  which  at  least  challenge  our  respect  for  their 
consistency.  In  tlieir  eyes  all  life  is  sacred,  the  life  of  beast 
and  bird,  nay,  of  reptile  and  insect,  as  well  as  of  man.  To 
carry  out  this  idea  they  have  established  a  Hospital  for  Ani- 
mals, which  is  one  of  the  institutions  of  Bombay.  It  is  on  a 
very  extensive  scale,  and  presents  a  spectacle  such  as  I  do 
not  believe  can  be  seen  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  Here, 
in  an  enclosure  covering  many  acres,  in  sheds,  or  stables,  or 
in  the  open  grounds,  as  may  best  promote  their  recovery,  are 
gathered  the  lame,  the  halt,  and  the  blind,  not  of  the  human 
species,  but  of  the  animal  world — cattle  and  horses,  sheep 
and  goats,  dogs  and  cats,  rabbits  and  monkeys,  and  beasts 
and  birds  of  every  description.  Even  poor  little  monkeys 
forgot  to  be  merry,  and  looked  very  solemn  as  they  sat  on 
their  perch.  The  cows,  sacred  as  they  were,  were  yet  not 
beyond  the  power  of  disease,  and  had  a  most  woe-begone 
look.  Long  rows  of  stables  were  filled  with  broken-down 
horses,  spavined  and  ring-boned,  with  ribs  sticking  out  of 
their  sides,  or  huge  sores  on  their  flanks,  dripping  with  blood. 
In  one  pen  were  a  number  of  kittens,  that  mewed  and  cried 
for  their  mothers,  though  they  had  a  plentiful  supply  of  milk 
for  their  poor  little  emaciated  bodies.  The  Hindoos  send 
out  carts  at  night  and  pick  them  up  wherever  they  have  been 
cast  into  the  street.  Rabbits,  whom  no  man  wo\ild  own, 
have  here  a  snug  warren  made  for  them,  and  creep  in  and 
out  with  a  feeling  of  safety  and  comfort.  In  a  large  enclo- 
sure were  some  hundred  dogs,  more  wretched-looking  than 
the  dogs  of  Constantinople — "whelps  and  curs  of  low  de- 
gree." These  poor  creatures  had  been  so  long  the  compan- 
ions of  man  that,  ill-treated  as  they  were,  starved  and  kicked, 
they  still  apparently  longed  for  human  society,  and  as  soon 
as  they  saw  us  they  seemed  to  recognize  us  as  their  deliv- 


HOSPITAL   FOB   ANIMALS.  127 

erers,  and  set  up  a  howling  and  yelping,  and  leaped  against 
the  bars  of  their  prison  house,  as  if  imploring  us  to  give  them 
liberty. 

And  here  is  a  collection  of  birds  to  fill  an  extensive  aviary, 
though  in  their  present  condition  they  do  not  look  exactly 
like  birds  of  Paradise.  There  are  not  only  "  four  black 
crows,"  but  more  than  any  farmer  would  like  to  see  in  his 
wheat  field  (for  India  is  the  land  of  crows).  Tall  ci'anes, 
that  had  been  wont  to  step  with  long  legs  by  the  marshy 
brink  of  rivers,  here  were  bandaged  and  splintered  till  they 
could  walk  once  more.  Broken-winged  seagulls,  that  could 
no  more  sweep  over  the  boundless  sea,  free  as  its  own  waves, 
were  nursed  till  they  could  fly  again. 

The  spectacle  thus  presented  was  half  touching  and  half 
ludicrous.  One  cannot  but  respect  the  Hindoo's  regard  for 
life,  as  a  thing  not  to  be  lightly  and  wantonly  destroyed. 
And  yet  they  carry  it  to  an  extent  that  is  absurd.  They  will 
not  take  the  life  of  animals  for  food,  nor  even  of  creatures 
that  are  annoying  or  dangerous  to  themselves.  Many  will 
not  crush  the  insects  that  buzz  around  them  and  sting  them, 
nor  kill  a  cobra  that  crawls  into  their  houses,  even  when  it 
threatens  to  bite  them  or  their  children.  It  has  been  said 
that  they  even  nurse  serpents,  and  when  recovered,  turn  them 
loQse  into  the  jungle  ;  but  of  this  we  saw  no  evidence.  But 
certainly  many  wretched  creatures,  whose  existence  is  not 
worth  keeping,  which  it  were  a  mercy  to  let  die,  are  here  res- 
cued and  brought  back  to  life. 

While  walking  through  these  grounds  in  company  with  a 
couple  of  missionaries,  I  thought  how  much  better  these  ani- 
mals were  cared  for  than  some  men.  I  was  thinking  of  some 
of  our  broken-down  ministers  at  home,  who,  after  serving 
their  people  faithfully  for  a  whole  generation,  are  at  last  sent 
adrift  without  ceremony,  like  an  old  horse  turned  out  by  the 
roadside  to  die  !  What  lives  of  drudgery  and  toil  do  such 
ministers  lead  !     They  are  "  beasts  of  burden,"  more  than  any 


128  THE   CAVES   OF   ELEPHANTA. 

beast  of  the  field.  And  when  their  working  days  are  over, 
can  they  not  be  cared  for  as  well  as  the  Hindoos  care  for  old 
horses  and  camels  ?  If  only  these  shattered  wrecks  (and 
magnificent  wrecks  some  of  them  are)  were  towed  into  port 
and  allowed  to  rest  in  tranquil  waters ;  or  (to  change  the 
figure)  if  these  old  veterans  were  housed  and  warmed  and  fed 
and  nursed  as  carefully  as  the  Hindoos  nurse  their  broken- 
down  animals,  we  should  have  fewer  of  those  instances  of 
cruel  neglect  which  we  sometimes  bear  of  to  our  sorrow  and 
shame  ! 

Of  the  antiquities  of  India,  one  of  the  most  notable  is  found 
here  in  the  Caves  of  Elephanta,  which  are  on  an  island  lying 
off  the  harbor.  We  set  apart  a  day  to  this  visit,  which  we 
made  with  a  couple  of  Americans  and  a  couple  of  Englishmen, 
the  latter  of  whom  we  met  first  in  Bombay,  but  who  were  to 
keep  us  company  a  large  part  of  our  journey  around  the 
world.  We  were  to  embark  at  the  Apollo  Bunder,  and  while 
waiting  here  for  our  boat  (  a  steam  launch  which  is  used  for 
this  purpose),  a  snake-charmer  desired  to  entertain  us  with 
the  dexterous  manner  in  which  he  handled  cobras,  taking 
them  up  like  kittens,  coiling  them  round  his  neck,  and  toss- 
ing them  about  in  a  very  playful  and  afiectionate  manner. 
No  doubt  their  fangs  had  been  completely  extracted  before 
he  indulged  in  these  endearments.  A  very  cruel  form  of 
sport  was  to  throw  one  on  the  ground,  and  let  it  be  set  up- 
on by  a  mangoose,  a  small  animal  like  a  weasel,  that  is  not 
poisoned  by  the  bite  of  serpents,  and  attacks  them  without 
hesitation.  One  of  these  the  man  carried  in  a  bag  for  the 
purpose.  As  soon  as  let  loose,  the  little  creature  flew  at  the 
snake  spitefully,  as  a  terrier  dog  would  at  a  rat,  and  seized 
it  by  the  head,  and  bit  it  again  and  again  with  its  sharp  teeth, 
and  left  it  covered  with  blood.  As  we  expressed  our  disgust 
at  this  cruelty,  the  juggler  assured  us  that  the  deceitful  rep- 
tile was  not  dead  (in  fact  as  soon  as  laid  on  the  ground  it  be- 
gan to  wriggle),  and  that  he  would  take  it  by  the  tail  and 


THE   CAVES   OF    ELEPHANTA.  129 

hold  it  up,  and  pour  water  on  its  head,  and  it  would  come  all 
right  again.  He  did  not  say,  but  no  doubt  thought,  "  and 
will  be  all  ready  for  torture  when  the  next  American  or  Eng- 
lishman comes  along." 

By  this  time  the  steam  launch  had  come  round  to  the  Bun- 
der, and  we  got  on  board.  It  was  a  little  mite  of  a  vessel, 
just  big  enough  for  the  half  dozen  of  us,  with  a  steam  boiler  not 
much  larger  than  a  teapot,  that  wheezed  as  if  it  had  the  asthma. 
But  it  did  its  work  well,  and  away  we  shot  swiftly  across  the 
beautiful  bay.  The  island  of  Elephanta  is  seven  miles 
from  the  city,  and  takes  its  name  from  a  gigantic  statue  of 
an  elephant  that  once  stood  upon  its  shore.  Landing  here, 
we  found  ourselves  at  the  foot  of  a  rocky  hill,  which  we 
mounted  by  several  hundred  steps,  and  stood  at  the  entrance 
of  a  gigantic  cave  or  cavern  cut  into  the  hill-side,  with  a 
lofty  ceiling,  pillared  like  a  temple.  The  main  hall,  as  it 
might  be  called,  runs  back  a  hundred  and  thirty  feet  into  the 
solid  rock. 

The  first  thing  that  struck  me  on  entering  was  the  resem- 
blance to  the  temples  of  Egypt.  Though  in  size  and  extent 
it  does  not  approach  the  ruins  of  Karnak,  yet  one  recognizes 
the  same  massive  architecture  in  this  temple,  which  is  liter- 
ally "  cut  out  of  a  mountain,"  its  roof  the  overhanging  cliff, 
supported  by  rows  of  heavy  columns. 

The  resemblance  to  Egypt  appears  also  in  the  symbol  of 
divinity  and  the  objects  of  worship ;  the  sacred  bull  in  one 
covintry  answering  to  the  sacred  cow  in  the  other ;  and  the 
sei-pent,  the  same  hooded  cobra,  rearing  its  head  on  the  front 
of  the  Temples  of  Tiiebes,  and  in  the  Caves  of  Elephanta. 

At  the  end  of  the  great  hall  are  the  objects  of  worship  in 
three  colossal  images  of  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Shiva.  This  is 
the  Hindoo  Trinity,  and  the  constant  recurrence  of  these  fig- 
ures in  their  mythology  shows  how  the  idea  of  a  Trinity  per- 
vaded other  ancient  religions  besides  our  own.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion for  scholars,  whence  came  the  original  conception  of  this 
6* 


130  THE   CAVES    OF   ELEniANTA. 

threefold  personality  in  the  Divine  Being,  whether  from  rev- 
elation, or  from  a  tradition  as  old  as  the  human  race. 

The  faces  are  Egyptian — immobile  like  the  Sphinx,  with 
no  expression  of  eagerness  or  desire,  but  only  of  calm  and 
eternal  repose.  Such  was  the  blessedness  of  the  gods,  and 
such  the  beatitude  sought  by  their  worshippers. 

The  age  of  the  Caves  of  Elephanta  is  not  known,  but  they 
must  be  of  a  great  antiquity.  For  many  centuries  this  rock- 
temple  has  been  the  resort  of  millions  of  worshippers. 
Generation  after  generation  have  the  poor  people  of  India 
crossed  these  waters  to  this  sacred  island,  and  climbed  weari- 
ly up  this  hill  as  if  they  were  climbing  towards  heaven. 

That  such  a  religion  should  have  lived  for  thousands  of 
years,  and  be  living  still  (for  the  worship  of  Brahma  and 
Yishnu  and  Shiva  is  still  the  religion  of  India),  is  a  reflec- 
tion that  gives  one  but  little  hope  for  the  future  of  the  human 
race. 


CHAPTER  XL 

LEAVING     BOMBAY — TRAVELLING     IN     INDIA — ALLAOAB.KD*— 
THE    MELA. 

We  had  been  in  Bombay  a  "week,  and  began  to  feel  qnite 
at  home,  when  we  had  to  leave.  A  man  who  undertakes  to 
go  around  the  world,  must  not  stop  too  long  in  the  soft 
places.  He  must  be  always  on  the  march,  or  ready  to  start 
at  the  tap  of  the  drum.  We  had  a  long  journey  before  us,  to 
the  North  of  India,  and  could  not  linger  by  the  way.  So  we 
set  out  just  at  evening.  Much  of  the  travelling  in  India  is 
at  night,  to  avoid  the  heat  of  the  day.  The  sun  was  setting 
over  the  waters  as  we  moved  slowly  out  of  the  station  at 
Bombay,  and  sweeping  around  the  shores,  caught  our  last 
glimpse  of  the  Western  sea,  and  then  rushed  off  for  the 
mountains. 

"  You'll  need  to  take  beds  with  you,"  said  our  friends, 
foreseeing  that  we  might  have  to  lie  down  in  rough  places. 
So  we  procured  for  each  of  us  what  is  called  a  resai,  a  well- 
stuffed  coverlet,  which  answered  the  purpose  of  a  light  mat- 
tress. There  are  no  sleeping-cars  in  India;  but  the  first- 
class  carriages  have  generally  a  sofa  on  either  side,  which 
may  be  turned  into  a  sort  of  couch.  On  these  sofas,  having 
first  secured  a  whole  compartment,  we  spread  our  resais,  with 
pillows  on  which  to  rest  our  weary  heads,  and  stretch  our- 
selves "  to  sleep — perchance  to  dream."  But  the  imagina- 
tion is  so  busy  that  sleep  comes  but  slowly.  I  often  lie 
awake  for  hours,  and  fijid  a  great  peace  in  this  constant 
wakefulness. 


132  THE   PLAINS   OF   INDIA. 

It  was  quite  dark  when  we  found  ourselves  climbing  the 
Ghauts  (what  in  California  would  be  called  the  Coast  Range), 
a  chain  of  mountains  not  very  high,  but  which  separates  the 
coast  from  the  table-land  of  the  interior.  As  the  train 
moved  more  slowly,  we  perceived  that  we  were  drawing  up 
a  heavy  imcline.  This  slow  motion  soothes  one  to  shimber, 
and  at  length  we  closed  our  eyes,  and  when  the  morning 
broke,  found  that  we  had  passed  the  summit,  and  were  rush- 
ing on  over  an  open  country,  not  unlike  our  Western  prai- 
ries. These  were  the  Plains  of  India — a  vast  plateavi,  broken 
here  and  there,  but  preserving  its  general  character  across  the 
whole  peninsula  from  Bombay  to  Calcutta,  and  North  to  the 
Himalayas, 

In  this  month  of  January,  these  plains  are  without  verdure 
to  give  them  beauty.  The  trees  keep  their  foliage,  and  here 
and  there  is  a  broad-spreading  banyan,  or  a  mango  grove, 
with  its  deep  shade.  But  we  miss  the  fresh  green  grass  and 
the  flowers  that  come  only  with  the  Spring.  Landscapes 
which  are  not  diversified  in  surface  by  hills  and  valleys  are 
only  relieved  from  monotony  by  varieties  of  color.  These 
are  wanting  now,  and  hence  the  vast  plain  is  but  "  a  gray 
and  melancholy  waste "  like  the  sea.  We  visit  India  in 
winter  because  the  summer  would  be  too  oppressive.  But  in 
choosing  this  season,  we  have  to  sacrifice  that  full  glory 
when  nature  comes  forth  in  all  the  richness  of  tropical  vege- 
tation. It  is  in  the  rainy  season  that  the  earth  bursts  sud- 
denly into  bloom.  Then  the  dead  plain,  so  bleak  and  bare, 
in  a  few  days  is  covered  with  a  carpet  of  green,  and  decked 
with  innumerable  flowers.  But  there  are  drawbacks  to  that 
gorgeous  time  and  that  prodigality  of  nature.  With  the 
bursting  into  light  of  the  vegetable  world,  the  insect  world 
also  comes  forth.  All  the  insects  that  buzz  and  sting,  fill  the 
summer  air  ;  and  then  the  reptile  world  creeps  abroad.  Out 
of  millions  of  holes,  where  they  have  slept  all  winter  long, 
crawl  cobras  and  other  deadly  serpents,  and  all  slimy  things. 


PEETTY   RAILWAY   STATIONS.  133 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  I  am  content  to  see  India  in  its  som- 
bre dress,  and  be  spared  some  other  attendants  of  this  tropi- 
cal world. 

Nor  is  there  much  animal  life  to  give  animation  to  the 
scene.  A  few  cattle  are  grazing  here  and  there.  Now  a 
deer  startled  looks  up,  as  we  go  by,  or  a  monkey  goes  leaping 
across  the  fields,  but  not  a  wild  beast  of  any  kind  is  seen — 
not  even  a  wild-cat  or  a  jackal.  As  for  birds,  storks  are  at 
home  in  India  as  much  as  in  Holland.  Red  flamingoes 
haunt 

"  The  plashy  brink,  or  marge  of  river  wide," 

while  on  the  broad  open  plain  the  birds  most  seen  are  crows  ! 
They  are  very  tame,  and  quite  familiar  wfth  the  rest  of  the 
animal  creation,  a  favorite  perch  being  the  backs  of  cows  or 
buflSiIoes,  where  they  light  without  resistance,  and  make 
themselves  at  home.  They  are  said  to  be  very  useful  as  scav- 
engers. That  is  quite  possible  ;  btit  however  useful,  they  are 
certainly  not  beautiful. 

In  these  long  stretches  of  course  we  pass  hundreds  of  vil- 
lages, but  these  do  not  attract  the  eye  nor  form  a  feature  in 
the  landscape,  for  the  low  mud  hovels  of  which  they  are 
composed  hardly  rise  above  the  level  of  the  plain.  There  is 
no  church  spire  to  be  seen,  as  from  a  New  England  village, 
nor  even  tlie  dome  or  minaret  of  a  mosque,  for  we  are  not  yet 
in  the  Mohammedan  part  of  India. 

One  feature  there  is  which  relieves  the  monotony — ^the  rail- 
way stations  are  the  prettiest  I  have  seen  out  of  England. 
Simply  but  tastefully  built,  they  are  covered  with  vines  and 
flowers,  which  with  irrigation  easily  grow  in  this  climate  in 
the  open  air  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The  railway  adminis- 
tration has  offered  prizes  for  the  embellishment  of  stations, 
8o  that  the  natives,  who  are  fond  of  flowers,  and  who  are 
thus  tempted  by  the  hope  of  reward,  plant  roses  and  trail 
vines  everywhere,  so  that  the  eye  is  relieved  from  the  glare 


134  GEEAT   DISTANCES. 

of  the  barren  plain  by  resting  on  a  mass  of  flowers  and 
verdure. 

In  their  internal  arrangeraents,  too,  these  stations  are  mo- 
dels of  comfort,  which  might  furnish  an  example  to  us  in 
America.  Wherever  we  are  to  breakfast  or  liinch  ("  take 
tiffin  ")  or  dine,  we  find  a  table  neatly  spread,  with  soft-footed 
Hindoos  gliding  about  to  serve  us,  and  with  plenty  of  time 
to  eat  in  peace,  without  that  rushing  which  makes  travel  in 
America  such  a  hurry  and  fatigue.  I  am  often  asked  about 
the  difficulty  of  travelling  in  India,  to  which  I  answer  that 
there  is  no  difficulty,  except  from  the  climate,  and  that  is  to 
be  guarded  against  by  going  in  the  cold  season.  There  are  rail- 
roads all  over  the  country,  and  if  Mr.  Pullman  would  only 
introduce  his  sleeping-cars,  made  more  open  to  give  more 
ventilation  in  this  hot  climate,  one  might  travel  in  India 
with  as  perfect  comfort  as  in  any  part  of  Europe  or  America. 

But  with  all  these  comforts,  and  all  that  there  is  to  divert 
the  eye,  the  way  seems  long.  It  is  not  till  one  reaches  India 
that  he  comprehends  how  vast  a  country  it  is — not  only  in 
density  of  population,  but  in  extent  of  territory.  In  "  mag- 
nificent distances  "  it  is  almost  equal  to  America  itself :  all 
small  ideas  are  dispelled  as  soon  as  one  leaves  the  coast,  and 
penetrates  into  the  interior.  Our  first  stage  from  Bombay 
to  Allahabad  was  845  miles,  which  took  us  not  only  the  first 
night  and  the  day  after,  but  the  second  night  also,  so  that  it 
was  not  till  the  morning  of  the  third  day  that  we  found  our- 
selves crossing  the  long  bridge  over  the  Jumna  into  the  city 
which  is  the  great  railroad  centre  in  India — a  sort  of  half- 
way station,  both  on  the  "  trunk  line  "  from  Bombay  to  Cal- 
cutta, and  on  the  line  to  tlie  North  of  India. 

By  this  time  we  were  glad  of  rest,  and  willingly  exchanged 
our  railway  carriage  for  a  hotel,  where  we  found  the  luxury 
of  baths,  which  refreshed  us  so  that  in  an  hour  or  two  we 
were  able  to  come  forth  "  clad  in  fine  linen,  white  and 
clean,"  and  ride  about  to  see  the  sights  of  the  town. 


ALLAHABAD — THE   AMERICAN   MISSION.  135 

Allahabad  is  not  a  city  of  so  much  historical  interest  as 
many  othei-s,  but  it  has  gi-own  very  much  within  a  few  years. 
The  railroads  have  given  such  an  impulse  to  its  business,  and 
increase  to  its  population,  that  it  has  now  130,000  inhabitants. 
It  is  the  capital  of  the  Northwest  Provinces,  and  thus  has  a 
political  as  well  as  a  commercial  importance.  Owing  to  its 
position,  it  has  been  chosen  as  a  convenient  centre  for  mis- 
sionary operations,  and  is  the  seat  of  one  of  the  best  organ- 
ized missions  of  our  Presbyterian  Board.  Here  we  met 
some  excellent  countrymen,  who  at  once  took  us  to  their 
hearts  and  homes :  and  though  reluctant  to  accept  hospital- 
ity, or  to  trespass  on  their  kindness,  yet  it  was  impossible 
to  refuse  an  invitation  so  cordially  given,  which  took  us 
from  a  great  barrack  of  a  hotel  to  a  refined  American  home. 
Our  Board  is  fortunate  in  owning  for  its  mission  premises  a 
large  "  compound,"  an  enclosure  of  many  acres,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Jumna — obtained  years  ago  at  a  nominal  price,  and 
which  costs  now  only  the  small  tax  of  fifty  rupees  (twenty- 
five  dollars)  a  year.  Here  under  one  broad  roof  were  Rev. 
Mr.  Kellogg  and  his  family — a  wife  and  four  children — and 
Mr.  Wynkoop,  and  Mr.  Heyl:  Dr.  Brodhead  had  just  left 
for  America.  In  the  compound  stands  a  neat  chapel,  in 
which  met  three  years  ago  the  great  conference  of  mission- 
aries of  different  denominations  from  all  parts  of  India,  the 
most  memorable  gathering  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  this 
country.  Here  there  is  a  service  in  Hindostanee  every  Sab- 
bath. In  another  building  is  a  school  of  300  pupils,  under 
charge  of  Mr.  Heyl.  He  has  also,  to  give  suflicient  variety 
to  his  occupation,  to  look  after  an  asylum  for  the  blind,  and 
another  for  lepers.  Rev.  Messrs.  Holcomb  and  Johnson  live 
in  other  parts  of  the  city,  where  there  is  a  Printing-press  and 
a  large  Depository  for  the  sale  of  Bibles  and  Tracts  in  the 
different  languages  of  India.  All  of  these  missionaries,  be- 
sides preaching  in  churches,  preach  in  the  streets  and  bazaara, 
and  spend  some  months  of  the  year  in  itinerating  through 


136  WOMANLY  TACT   AND   MEDICAL    SKILL. 

the  villages  in  a  large  circuit  of  counti-y,  living  in  tents,  and 
speaking  to  the  people  by  the  roadside,  or  in  groves,  or  in 
their  houses,  wherever  they  can  find  them — a  work  which 
they  enjoy  greatly.  Thus  with  preaching  in  city  and  countiy, 
and  keeping  up  their  schools,  and  looking  after  printing 
presses,  writing  and  publishing  books  and  tracts,  they  have 
their  hands  full. 

Nor  can  I  overlook  our  countrywomen  in  Allahabad. 
There  is  here  a  "  Zenana  Mission,"  supported  by  the  so- 
ciety of  the  good  Mrs.  Doremus,  and  also  two  ladies  con- 
nected with  the  Presbyterian  Board,  one  of  whom,  Miss  Wil- 
son, devotes  herself  to  visiting  in  the  Zenanas,  while  the 
other,  Miss  Seward,  is  a  physician,  practising  with  great  suc- 
cess in  many  of  the  best  native  families,  thus  rendering  a 
physical  as  well  as  a  spiritiial  service.  She  is  a  niece  of  the 
late  Secretary  of  State,  William  H.  Seward,  who  when  in 
India  paid  her  a  visit,  and  was  so  impressed  with  what  she 
was  doing  so  quietly  and  yet  so  effectively  ;  with  the  access 
which  her  medical  skill  and  her  feminine  tact  gave  her  to 
the  interior  life  of  the  people  ;  that  on  his  return  to  America 
he  summed  up  the  result  of  all  his  observations  of  missions 
in  this  brief  counsel :  "  Make  all  your  missionaries  women, 
and  give  them  all  a  medical  education." 

Allahabad  has  a  proud  name — the  City  of  God  ;  but  one 
sees  not  much  to  render  it  worthy  of  that  exalted  title.  It 
is  however,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Hindoos  a  sacred  city, 
as  it  stands  at  the  junction  of  the  Jumna  and  the  Ganges, 
the  two  sacred  rivers  of  India,  which  issuing  out  of  the  glaciers 
of  the  Himalayas,  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  north,  here  unite, 
and  flow  on  in  a  broader  stream,  and  with  an  increased 
volume  of  sanctity.  The  point  of  junction  is  of  course  a 
very  holy  j)lace — one  of  the  most  sacred  in  India — and 
draws  to  it  more  pilgrims  than  Mecca.  Every  year  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  pilgrims,  come  from  all  parts  of  India  to 
bathe  in  these  holy  waters.     This  is  the    Mela — or   great 


A^^cfl^A^   ^TS^^-f^M-^^Uyu^'^fyi- 


THE   MELA.  137 

religious  festival — which  was  now  in  progress.  The  mission- 
aries congratulated  us  that  we  had  arrived  at  such  an  oppor- 
tune moment,  as  we  had  thus  an  opportunity  of  witnessing 
a  spectacle  which  would  show  more  of  Hindooism  than  any 
other  that  we  could  see  in  India,  unless  it  might  be  in  the 
holy  city  of  Benares. 

On  a  Saturday  evening  we  rode  down  to  the  place  of  the 
encampment,  which  we  found  covering  a  wide  sandy  plain  at 
the  junction  of  two  rivers.  It  was  a  camp-meeting  of  mag- 
nificent dimensions.  The  tents  or  booths  were  laid  out  in 
streets,  and  sometimes  grouped  in  a  hollow  square,  which  for 
the  time  being  was  a  compact  and  populous  city.  As  the 
evening  was  not  the  hour  for  bathing,  we  did  not  go  down 
to  the  river  bank,  but  strolled  among  the  camps  to  see  the 
people.  At  every  tent  fires  were  burning,  and  they  were 
cooking  their  food. 

Our  friends  led  the  way  to  the  camp  of  the  Sikhs,  the 
famous  warrior  race  of  the  Punjaub,  who  form  a  sect  by 
themselves,  and,  strange  to  say,  are  not  idolators.  They 
follow  the  teachings  of  a  prophet  of  their  own,  and  like  the 
Mohammedans,  make  it  a  special  virtue,  that  they  do  not  wor- 
ship idols.  But. the  old  instinct  is  too  strong  for  them,  and 
while  they  do  not  bow  to  images,  they  pay  a  reverence  to 
their  sacred  book — the  writings  of  their  teacher — which  is 
little  short  of  idolatry.  At  several  places  in  their  camp  was 
something  like  an  altar,  a  raised  platform  which  was  too 
holy  for  us  to  ascend,  where  sat  a  priest  reading  from  this 
volume,  before  which  all  knelt  as  at  the  shrine  of  a  saint, 
while  they  scattered  flowers  around  it  as  a  kind  of  incense  or 
adoration. 

In  other  parts  of  the  camp  men  were  blowing  horns  and 
making  all  sorts  of  hideous  noise,  as  an  intense  way  of  offer- 
ing devotions.  This  mockery  of  religion  moved  the  indigna- 
tion of  our  friends,  who  opened  their  mouths  boldly  in  expo- 
sure of  such  folly  and  superstition,  but  they  found  that  those 


138  PHILOSOPnY   OF   inNDOOISM. 

whom  they  addressed  did  not  shrink  from  the  encounter. 
Some  of  them  were  very  keen  in  argument.  They  have  a 
subtle  philosophy  at  the  bottom  of  their  worship,  which  they 
explained  with  a  good  deal  of  ingenuity,  and  tried  to  illumine 
by  apt  analogies  and  illustrations.  Like  all  Hindoos,  they 
were  most  liberal  in  their  tolerance  of  other  religions — much 
more  so  than  the  Mohammedans — generously  conceding  that 
our  religion  was  best  for  us,  while  claiming  that  theirs  was  best 
for  them.  They  did  not  try  to  convert  us,  and  saw  no  reason 
why  we  should  try  to  convert  them.  This  was  the  Broad 
Church  indeed,  large  enough  for  "  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men."  They  even  went  further,  and  paid  us  not  only  the 
respect  due  to  men,  but  to  gods.  One  of  the  fakirs  said  to 
us  in  so  many  words  :  "  You  are  God  and  I  am  God  !  "  This 
tells  the  whole  story  in  a  sentence.  Their  creed  is  the 
baldest  Pantheism :  that  God  is  in  everything,  and  therefore 
everything  is  God.  As  all  life  comes  from  Him,  He  is  in 
everything  that  lives — not  only  in  man,  but  in  beasts,  and 
birds,  and  reptiles.  All  alike  are  incarnations  of  a  Divine 
life,  and  hence  all  alike  are  fit  objects  of  adoration.  Man 
can  adore  himself.  He  need  not  carry  any  burden  of  sor- 
row or  guilt ;  he  need  not  know  repentance  or  shame  ;  for 
how  can  he  mourn  for  impulses  which  are  but  the  inspira- 
tions of  the  God  in  him,  or  for  acts  which  are  but  the  mani- 
festations of  the  Universal  Soul  ? 

This  was  our  first  close  contest  with  Hindooism,  but  still 
we  had  not  seen  the  M61a  till  we  had  seen  the  bathing  of  the 
pilgrims  in  the  Ganges,  which  was  still  in  reserve.  The  Fes- 
tival lasts  a  month — like  the  Ramadan  of  the  Mohammedans 
— and  is  regulated  by  the  changes  of  the  moon.  The  day  of 
the  new  moon,  which  was  last  Wednesday,  was  the  great  day 
of  the  feast.  On  that  day  there  was  a  grand  procession  to  the 
river,  in  which  there  were  twenty-five  elephants,  mounted 
by  their  mahants  (a  sort  of  chief  priests),  with  hundreds  of 


ON  THE  BANK  OF  THE  EIVEE.  139 

fakirs  on  foot,  and  a  vast  crowd  in  all  the  frenzy  of  devotion. 
On  Monday,  as  the  moon  was  approaching  her  first  quarter, 
there  was  likely  to  be  a  large  concourse,  though  not  equal  to 
the  first,  and  we  made  arrangements  to  be  on  hand  to  witness 
a  spectacle  such  as  we  had  never  seen  before,  and  should  pro- 
bably never  see  again.  Rev.  Mr.  Holcomb  came  very  early 
in  the  morning  with  his  carriage,  to  take  us  to  the  riverside. 
As  we  drove  along  the  roads,  we  passed  thousands  who  were 
flocking  to  the  place  of  bathing.  Some  rode  in  ox -carts, 
which  carried  whole  families ;  now  and  then  a  mounted  horse- 
man dashed  by  ;  while  a  long  row  of  camels  told  of  a  caravan 
that  had  toiled  wearilj'  over  a  great  distance,  perhaps  from 
the  foot  of  the  Himalayas  or  the  Vale  of  Cashmere,  to  reach 
the  sacred  spot.  But  the  greater  part  of  those  who  came 
were  on  foot,  and  looked  like  pilgrims  indeed.  Most  of  them 
carried  on  their  shoulders  a  couple  of  baskets,  in  one  of 
which  was  their  food,  and  in  the  other  the  ashes  of  their  dead, 
which  they  had  brought  from  their  homes,  sometimes 
hundreds  of  miles,  to  cast  into  the  sacred  waters  of  the 
Ganges. 

The  carriage  brought  us  only  to  the  Bund,  near  the  Fort — 
a  huge  embankment  of  earth  raised  to  keep  out  the  waters  at 
the  time  of  the  annual  risings,  and  which  during  the  past 
year  had  saved  the  city  from  inundation.  Here  our  friends 
had  provided  an  elephant  to  take  us  through  the  crowd.  The 
huge  creature  was  waiting  for  us.  The  mahout  who  stood 
at  his  head  now  mounted  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  He 
merely  stepped  in  front  of  the  elephant,  and  took  hold  of  the 
flaps  of  his  ears,  and  put  up  a  foot  on  his  trunk,  which  the 
beast  raised  as  lightly  as  if  the  man  had  been  a  feather,  and 
thus  tossed  his  rider  upon  his  head.  A  word  of  command 
then  brought  him  to  his  knees,  when  a  ladder  was  placed 
against  his  side,  and  we  climbed  to  the  top,  and  as  he  rose 
up,  were  lifted  into  the  air.  An  elephant's  back  is  a  capital 
lookout  for  observation.     It  raises  one  on  high,  from  which. 


140  GREAT   NUMBER    OF    PILGRIMS. 

he  can  look  down  upon  what  is  passing  below;  and  the 
mighty  creature  has  not  much  difficulty  in  making  his  way 
through  even  the  densest  crowd.  He  moved  down  the  em- 
bankment a  little  slowly  at  first,  but  once  on  level  ground, 
he  strode  along  with  rapid  strides ;  while  we,  sitting  aloft, 
regarded  with  amazement  the  scene  before  us. 

Indeed  it  was  a  marvellous  spectacle.  Here  was  a  vast 
camp,  extending  from  river  to  river.  Far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  the  plain  was  covered  with  tents  and  booths.  We  had 
no  means  of  estimating  the  number  of  j^eople  present.  Mr. 
Kellogg  made  a  rough  calculation,  as  he  stood  in  his  preach- 
ing tent,  and  saw  the  crowd  pouring  by.  Fixing  his  eye  on 
the  tent-pole,  with  watch  in  hand,  he  counted  the  number 
that  passed  in  a  minute,  and  found  it  to  be  a  hundred  and 
fifty,  which  would  make  nine  thousand  in  an  hovir.  If  this 
steady  flow  were  kept  up  for  four  hours  (as  it  began  at  day- 
light, and  was  continued,  though  with  varying  volume, 
through  the  forenoon),  it  would  make  thirty-six  thousand ; 
and  reckoning  those  encamped  on  the  ground  at  twenty  thou- 
sand, the  whole  number  would  be  over  fifty  thousand. 

This  is  a  very  small  number,  compared  with  that  present 
at  some  times.  Last  "Wednesday  it  was  twice  as  great,  and 
some  years  the  multitude — which  overflows  the  country  for 
miles,  like  an  inundation  of  the  Ganges — has  been  estimated 
at  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  even  millions.  Every  twelve 
years  there  is  a  greater  Mela  than  at  other  times,  and  the 
concourse  assumes  extraordinary  proportions.  This  came 
six  yeai's  ago,  in  1870.  That  year  it  was  said  that  there  were 
present  75,000  fakirs  alone,  and  on  the  great  day  of  the  feast 
it  was  estimated  that  a  million  of  people  bathed  in  the  Gan- 
ges. So  fearful  was  the  crush  that  they  had  to  be  marshalled 
by  the  police,  and  marched  down  to  the  river  by  ten  or  twenty 
thousand  at  a  time,  and  then  across  a  bridge  of  boats  to  the 
other  side,  returning  by  another  way,  so  as  to  prevent  a  col- 
lision of  the  entering  and  returning  mass,  that  might  have 


THE   FAKIRS — DISGUSTING   OBJECTS.  141 

occasioned  a  fearful  loss  of  life.  That  year  it  was  estimated 
that  not  less  than  two  millions  of  pilgrims  visited  the  M61a. 
Allowing  for  the  common  exaggeration  in  estimating  multi- 
tudes, there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  host  of  pilgrims 
here  has  often  been  "  an  exceeding  great  army." 

I  could  not  but  look  with  pity  at  the  ignorant  creatures 
flocking  by,  but  the  feeling  of  pity  changed  to  disgust  at  the 
sight  of  the  priests  by  whom  they  were  misled.  Everywhere 
were  fakirs  sitting  on  the  ground,  receiving  the  reverence  of 
the  people.  More  disgusting  objects  I  never  looked  upon, 
not  even  in  an  asylum  for  the  insane.  They  were  almost 
naked ;  their  hair,  which  they  suffer  to  grow  long,  had  become 
tangled  and  knotted,  and  was  matted  like  swamp  grass,  and 
often  bound  round  with  thick  ropes  ;  and  their  faces  smeared 
with  filth.  The  meagerness  of  their  clothing  is  one  of  the 
tokens  of  their  sanctity.  They  are  so  holy  that  they  do  not 
need  to  observe  the  ordinary  rules  of  decency.  Yet  these 
filthy  creatures  are  regarded  not  only  with  reverence,  but 
almost  worshipped.  Men — and  women  also — stoop  down 
and  kiss  their  feet.  On  Wednesday  some  three  hundred  of 
these  fakirs  marched  in  procession  ahsolutely  naked,  while 
crowds  of  women  pi-ostrated  themselves  before  them,  and 
kissed  the  very  ground  over  which  they  had  passed.  One  is 
amazed  that  such  a  disgusting  exhibition  was  not  prevented 
by  the  police.  Yet  it  took  place  under  the  guns  of  an  Eng- 
lish fort,  and — greatest  shame  of  all — ^instead  of  being  sup- 
pressed, was  accompanied  and  protected  by  the  police,  which, 
though  composed  of  natives,  wore  the  uniform,  and  obeyed 
the  orders,  of  Christian  England  !  There  are  not  many 
sights  which  make  one  ashamed  of  the  English  government 
in  India,  but  surely  this  is  one  of  them.* 

*  That  we  may  not  do  injustice,  we  add  the  excuse  which  is  given, 
which  is,  that  such  attendance  of  the  police  is  necessary  to  prevent 
a  general  melee  and  bloodshed.  It  seems  that  these  fakirs,  holy  as 
they  are,  belong  to  different  sects,  between  which  there  arc  deadly 


142  THE  BATHING  IN  THE  GANGES. 

How  such  "  brute  beasts "  can  have  any  respect  or  influ- 
ence, is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  llindooism.  But  the  com- 
mon people,  ignorant  and  superstitious,  think  these  men  have 
a  power  that  is  more  than  human,  and  fear  to  incur  their  dis- 
])]easure.  They  dread  their  curses :  for  these  holy  men  have 
a  fearful  power  of  imprecation.  Wherever  they  stroll 
through  the  country,  no  man  dares  to  refuse  them  food  or 
shelter,  lest  one  of  their  awful  curses  should  light  upon  his 
head,  and  immediately  his  child  should  die,  or  disaster  should 
overtake  his  house. 

But  let  us  pass  on  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  where  the 
crowd  is  already  becoming  very  great.  To  go  among  them, 
we  get  down  from  our  elephant  and  walk  about.  Was  there 
ever  such  a  scene — men,  women,  and  children,  by  tens  of 
thousands,  in  all  stages  of  nakedness,  pressing  towards  the 
sacred  river  ?  The  men  are  closely  shaved,  as  for  every  hair 
of  their  heads  they  gain  a  million  of  years  in  Paradise  !  Some 
had  come  in  boats,  and  were  out  in  the  middle  of  the  stream, 
from  which  they  could  bathe.  But  the  greater  part  were 
along  the  shore.  The  water  was  shallow,  so  that  they  could 
wade  in  without  danger ;  but  to  afford  greater  security,  lines 
of  boats  were  drawn  around  the  places  of  bathing,  to  keep 
them  from  drowning  and  from  suicide. 

It  would  not  have  been  easy  to  make  our  way  througli  such 
a  crowd,  had  not  the  native  police,  with  that  respect  for 
Englishmen  which  is  seen  everywhere  in  India,  cleared  the 
way  for  us.  Thus  we  came  down  to  the  water's  edge,  passing 
through  hundreds  that  were  coming  up  dripping  from  the 
water,  and  other  himdreds  that  were  pressing  in.  They  were 
of  all  ages  and  sexes.  It  was  hard  to  repress  our  disgust  at 
the  voluntary  debasement  of  men  who  might  know  better,  but 


feuds,  and  if  left  to  themselves  unrestrained,  when  brought  into 
close  contact  in  a  procession,  they  might  tear  each  other  in  pieces. 
But  this  would  bo  no  great  loss  to  the  world. 


THE   BATHING   IN   THE   OANGE8.  143 

with  these  there  were  some  wretched  objects,  who  could  only 
excite  our  pity — poor,  haggard  old  women,  who  had  dragged 
themselves  to  this  spot,  and  children  borne  on  their  mothers' 
shoulders  !  In  former  times  many  infants  were  thrown  into 
the  Ganges.  This  was  the  most  common  form  of  infanticide. 
But  this  practice  has  been  stopped  by  the  strong  hand  of  the 
government.  And  now  they  are  brought  here  only  to  "  wash 
and  be  cleansed."  Even  the  sick  were  carried  in  palanquins, 
to  be  dipped  in  the  healing  waters ;  and  here  and  there  one 
who  seemed  ready  to  die  was  brought,  that  he  might  breathe 
his  last  in  sight  of  the  sacred  river. 

I  observed  a  great  number  of  flags  flying  from  tall  poles  in 
different  parts  of  the  ground,  which  made  the  place  look  like 
a  military  encampment.  These  marked  the  headquarters  of 
the  men  who  get  up  these  Melas,  and  in  so  doing  contrive  to 
unite  business  with  religion.  During  the  year  they  peram- 
bulate the  country,  drumming  up  pilgrims.  A  reputation  for 
sanctity  is  a  stock  in  trade,  and  they  are  not  too  modest  to 
set  forth  their  own  peculiar  gifts,  and  invite  those  who  come 
to  the  holy  water  to  repair  to  their  shop,  where  they  can  be 
"  put  through  "  in  the  shortest  time,  and  for  the  least  money. 
This  money-making  feature  is  apparent  in  all  the  aiTange- 
ments  of  these  pious  ])ilgrimages. 

In  keeping  with  these  coarser  features  of  the  scene,  was 
the  presence  of  dancing  girls,  who  gathered  a  group  ai'ound 
them  close  to  the  bathing  places,  and  displayed  their  in- 
decent gestures  on  the  banks  of  the  holy  river,  to  those  who 
had  just  engaged  in  what  they  considered  an  act  of  moral 
purification. 

In  other  parts  of  the  camp,  retired  from  the  river,  was 
carried  on  the  business  of  "  religious  instruction."  Here 
and  there  pundits,  or  learned  Brahmins,  surrounded  by  large 
companies,  chiefly  of  women,  were  reading  from  the  Shasters, 
which,  considering  that  they  got  over  the  ground  with  great 
velocity,  could  hai'dly  be  very  edifying  to  their  hearers.     This 


144  UNITING   BUSINESS   WITH    RELIGION. 

mattered  little,  however,  as  these  sacred  books  are  in  San- 
scrit, which  to  the  people  is  an  unknown  tongue. 

I  was  glad  to  see  that  these  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  did 
not  have  it  all  their  own  way.  Near  by  were  the  preaching- 
tents  of  several  missionaries,  who  also  drew  crowds,  to  whom 
they  spoke  of  a  better  religion.  Among  them  was  Rev.  Mr. 
Macombie,  who  is  a  famous  preacher.  He  is  a  native  of 
India,  and  is  not  only  master  of  their  language,  but  familiar 
with  their  ideas.  He  knows  all  their  arguments  and  their 
objections,  and  if  a  hearer  interrupts  him,  whether  a  Hindoo, 
or  a  Mohammedan,  he  is  very  apt  to  get  a  shot  which  makes 
him  sink  back  in  the  crowd,  glad  to  escape  without  further 
notice.  Whether  this  preaching  converts  many  to  Christian- 
ity, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  diffuses  a  widespread  sense 
of  the  folly  of  these  Melas,  and  to  this  as  one  cause  may  be 
ascribed  the  falling-off  in  the  concourse  of  pilgrims,  who  were 
formerly  counted  by  millions  and  are  now  only  by  hundreds 
of  thousands. 

While  "  religion  "  thus  went  on  vigorously,  business  was 
not  forgotten.  In  the  remoter  parts  of  the  camp  it  was  turned 
into  a  market-place.  A  festival  which  brings  together  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  people,  is  an  occasion  not  to  be  lost  for 
traffic  and  barter.  So  the  camp  becomes  a  huge  bazaar  (a 
vast  fair,  such  as  one  may  see  in  America  at  a  cattle  show  or 
a  militia  muster),  with  streets  of  shops,  so  that,  after  one  has 
performed  his  religious  duties,  as  he  comes  up  from  the  holy 
waters  and  returns  to  "  the  world,"  he  can  gratify  his  pride 
and  vanity  by  purchasing  any  quantity  of  cheap  jewelry. 

There  are  shops  for  the  sale  of  idols.  We  could  have 
bought  a  lovely  little  beast  for  a  few  pence.  They  are  as 
"  cheap  as  dirt ;  "  in  fact,  they  are  often  made  of  dirt.  As  we 
stood  in  front  of  one  of  the  shops,  we  saw  a  group  rolling  up 
a  little  ball  of  mud,  as  children  make  mud  pies ;  who  re- 
quested a  lady  of  our  party  to  step  one  side,  as  her  shadow, 
falling  on  this  holy  object,  polluted  it ! 


A   FIKE  IN   THE   CAMP.  145 

It  is  hard  to  believe  that  even-  the  most  ignorant  and  de- 
graded of  men  can  connect  such  objects  with  any  idea  of 
sacredness  or  religion.  And  yet  the  wretched-looking  crea- 
tures seemed  infatuated  with  their  idolatx'ies.  To  bathe  in 
the  Granges  washes  away  their  sins.  It  opens  to  them  the 
gates  of  paradise.  Such  value  do  they  attach  to  it  that  even 
death  in  its  sacred  waters  is  a  privilege.  Formerly  suicides 
were  very  frequent  here,  till  they  were  stopped  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. Fanaticism  seems  to  destroy  the  common  sympa- 
thies of  life.  Last  Wednesday,  while  the  great  procession 
was  in  progress,  a  fire  broke  out  in  one  of  the  booths.  As 
they  are  made  of  the  lightest  material  it  caught  like  tinder, 
and  spread  so  rapidly  that  in  a  few  minutes  a  whole  camp 
was  in  a  blaze.  But  for  the  presence  of  mind  and  energy  of 
a  few  English  soldiers  from  the  Fort  who  were  on  the 
ground,  and  who  seized  an  engine,  and  played  upon  the 
burning  wood  and  thatch,  the  entire  encampment  might 
have  been  destroyed,  involving  an  appalling  loss  of  life.  As 
it  was,  some  thirty  perished,  almost  all  women.  Mr.  Kel- 
logg came  up  in  time  to  see  their  charred  and  blackened  re- 
mains. Yet  this  terrible  disaster  awakened  no  feeling  of 
compassion  for  its  victims.  They  were  accounted  rather 
favored  beings  to  have  perished  in  such  a  holy  spot.  Thus 
does  the  blindness  of  superstition  extinguish  the  ordinary 
feelings  of  humanity. 

Weary  and  heart-sick  at  such  exhibitions  of  human  folly, 
we  mounted  our  elephant  to  leave  the  ground.  The  noble 
beast,  who  had  waited  patiently  for  us  (and  was  duly  re- 
warded), now  seemed  as  if  he  could  stand  it  no  longer,  and 
taking  us  on  his  back,  strode  off  as  if  disgusted  with  the 
whole  performance,  and  disdaining  the  society  of  such  de- 
based human  creatures. 

This  M61a,  with  other  things  which  I  have  seen,  has  quite 
destroyed  any  illusions  which  I  may  have  had  in  regard 
to  Hindooism.  In  coming  to  India,  one  chief  object  was  to 
7 


146  HESDOOISM   SUPPORTED   BY   FALSEHOOD. 

study  its  religion.  I  had  read  much  of  "  the  mild  Hindoo  " 
and  "  the  learned  Brahmin,"  and  I  asked  myself,  May  not 
their  religion  have  some  elements  of  good  ?  Is  it  not  better  at 
least  than  no  religion?  But  the  more  I  study  it  the  worse 
it  seems.  I  cannot  understand  the  secret  of  its  power.  1  can 
see  a  fascination  in  Romanism,  and  even  in  Mohammedanism. 
The  mythology  of  the  Greeks  had  in  it  many  beautiful  crea- 
tions of  the  imagination.  But  the  gods  of  the  Hindoos  are 
but  deified  beasts,  and  their  worship,  instead  of  elevating  men 
intellectually  or  moi'ally,  is  an  unspeakable  degradation. 
♦  Hindooism  is  a  mountain  of  lies.  It  is  a  vast  and  mon- 
strous system  of  falsehood,  kept  in  existence  mainly  for  the 
sake  of  keeping  up  the  power  of  the  Brahmins.  Their  ca- 
pacity for  deceit  is  boundless,  as  is  that  of  the  lower  castes 
for  being  deceived.  Of  this  I  have  just  had  a  specimen.  In 
the  fort  here  at  Allahabad  is  a  subterranean  passage  which  is 
held  in  the  highest  veneration,  as  it  is  believed  that  here  a 
river  flows  darkly  underground  to  join  the  sacred  waters  of 
the  Jumna  and  the  Ganges,  and  here — prodigy  of  nature — is  a 
sacred  tree,  which  has  been  here  (they  tell  us)  for  hundreds 
of  years,  and  though  buried  in  the  heart  of  the  earth,  still  it 
liA'^es.  It  is  true  it  does  show  some  signs  of  sap  and  green- 
ness. But  the  mystery  is  explained  when  the  fact  comes  out 
that  the  tree  is  changed  every  year.  The  sergeant-major, 
who  has  been  here  four  yeai's,  told  me  that  he  had  himself 
given  the  order  three  times,  which  admitted  the  party  into  the 
Fort  at  midnight  to  take  away  the  old  stump  and  put  in  a 
fiesh  tree  !  He  said  it  was  done  in  the  month  of  February, 
so  that  with  the  first  opening  of  spring  it  was  ready  to  bloom 
afresh  !  How  English  officers  can  reconcile  it  with  their 
honor  to  connive  at  such  a  deception — even  though  it  be  to 
please  the  Brahmins — 1  leave  them  to  explain.  But  the  fact, 
thus  attested,  is  sufficient  to  show  the  imfathomable  lying  of 
this  ruling  caste  of  India,  and  the  immeasurable  credulity  of 
their  disciples. 


ITS   IMMORALITY. 


147 


A  i*eligioii  that  is  founded  on  imposture,  and  supported  by- 
falsehood,  cannot  bear  the  fruits  of  righteousness.  In  the 
essence  of  things  truth  is  allied  to  moral  purity.  Its  very 
nature  is  "  sweetness  and  light."  But  craft  and  deceitAn 
sacred  things) breed  a  vicious  habit  of  defending  by  false  rea- 
soning whawin  uncorrupted  conscience  would  reject,'  andf the 
holy  name  of  religion^  instead  of  being  a  sacrament  of  good, 
becomes  a  sacrament  of  evil,  which  is  used  to  cover  and  con- 
secrate loathsome  immoralities.  Thus  falsehood  works  like 
poison  in  the  blood,  and  runs  through  every  vein  till  the 
■whole  moral  being  is  spotted  with  leprosyT] 


CHAPTER  XI. 

AGRA — ^VISIT  OF  THE  PRINCE  OP  WALES — PALACE  OF  THE 
GREAT  MOGUL — THE  TAJ. 

We  left  Allahabad  at  midnight,  and  by  noon  of  the  next 
day  were  at  Agra,  in  the  heart  of  the  old  Mogul  Empire.  As 
we  approached  from  the  other  side  of  the  Jumna,  we  saw  be- 
fore us  what  seemed  a  royal  castle,  of  imposing  dimensions, 
strongly  fortified,  with  walls  and  moat,  like  one  of  the  strong- 
holds of  the  Middle  Ages,  a  castle  on  the  Rhine,  built  for  a 
double  purpose,  half  palace  and  half  fortress.  As  we  crossed 
the  long  bridge  flags  were  flying  in  honor  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  had  arrived  the  week  before.  His  entry  into  this 
old  Mogul  capital  was  attended  with  a  display  of  magnifi- 
cence worthy  of  the  days  of  Aurungzebe.  At  the  station  he  was 
met  by  a  great  number  of  Rajahs,  mounted  on  elephants  rich- 
ly caparisoned,  of  which  there  were  nearly  two  hundred  in 
the  procession,  with  long  suites  of  retainers,  who  escorted 
him  to  his  camp  outside  of  the  city.  Rev.  Mr.  Wynkoop 
(who  came  on  a  few  days  before  to  witness  the  fetes,  and  was 
staying  with  a  friend  who  had  a  tent  quite  near  to  that  of 
the  Prince),  met  us  at  the  station  and  took  us  out  to  the 
Royal  camp.  It  was  indeed  a  beautiful  sight.  The  tents, 
many  of  which  were  very  lai'ge,  were  laid  ofi"  in  an  oblong 
square,  with  the  marquee  of  the  Prince  at  the  end,  in  front 
of  which  floated  the  royal  standard  of  England.  The  rest  of 
the  camp  was  laid  off  in  streets.  On  the  outskirts  of  the 
Maidan  (or  parade  ground)  were  the  military  selected  from 
different  corps  of  the  Indian  army.     Some  of  the  native  troops 


THE   PKINCE   OF   WALES   AT  AGEA.  149 

in  drill  and  discipline  were  equal  to  the  English.  The  Pun- 
jaubees  especially  were  magnificent  fellows.  Tall  and  athletic 
in  figure,  they  are  splendid  horsemen,  so  that  a  regiment  of 
Puujaubee  (or  Sikh)  cavalry  is  one  of  the  sights  of  India. 
English  artillery  manned  the  guns  with  which  they  saluted 
the  native  princes  according  to  their  rank,  as  they  came  to 
pay  their  respects.  Here,  on  the  Saturday  before,  the  Prince 
had  held  a  grand  Durbar,  to  which  the  Rajahs  came  riding  on 
elephants,  and  each  with  a  body-guard  of  cavalry,  mounted 
sometimes  on  horses  and  sometimes  on  camels,  making  alto- 
gether such  a  scene  of  barbaric  splendor  as  could  not  be  wit- 
nessed in  any  country  in  the  world  but  India. 

The  Prince  was  absent  from  the  camp,  having  gone  ofi"  a 
day  or  two  before  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Maharajah  of  Gwalior, 
but  an  hour  later,  while  we  were  making  a  first  visit  to  the 
Taj,  we  heard  the  guns  which  announced  his  return.  A  day 
or  two  after  we  saw  him  starting  for  Jeypore,  when,  although 
he  drove  off  in  a  carriage  very  quietly,  the  camels  and  ele- 
phants that  went  rolling  along  the  different  roads,  as  we  drove 
out  once  more  to  the  camp,  told  of  the  brilliant  pageant 
that  was  ended. 

This  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  is  a  great  event.  It 
has  excited  a  prodigious  interest  in  official  and  military  cir- 
cles. His  progress  through  the  country  has  been  in  a  blaze 
of  pi'ocessions  and  illuminations.  To  himself  it  must  have 
been  very  gratifying.  As  he  said,  "  It  had  been  the  dream 
of  his  life  to  visit  India."  It  was  a  matter  of  political  wis- 
^  dom  that  he  should  know  it,  not  only  through  others  but  by 
personal  observation.  Mr.  Disraeli,  in  proposing  it  in  Par- 
liament, said  justly  that  "  travel  was  the  best  education  for 
princes."  It  was  well  that  the  future  King  of  England, 
should  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  great  Empire  that 
he  was  one  day  to  r\ile.  But  whether  this  royal  visit  will 
result  in  any  real  benefit  to  India  to  coiTespond  with  the 
enormous  expense  it  has  involved,  is  a  qiiestion  which  I 


160  GOOD   EFFECTS   OF   HIS   VISIT   TO   INDIA. 

hear  a  good  deal  discussed  among  Englishmen,  In  some 
ways  it  cannot  fail  to  do  good.  It  has  presented  to 
the  people  of  India  an  impersonation  of  sovereignty,  a 
visible  representative  of  that  mighty  power,  the  British 
Empire.  It  has  conciliated  the  native  princes,  who  have 
been  greatly  pleased  by  the  frank  and  manly  courtesy  of 
their  future  sovereign.  In  the  art  of  courtesy  he  is  a  mas- 
ter. History  will  give  him  this  rank  among  princes,  that  he 
was  not  great,  but  gracious.  This  is  a  kingly  virtue  which  it 
was  well  to  have  exhibited  in  the  person  of  one  of  such  ex- 
alted rank,  the  more  as  English  officials  in  India  are  charged 
with  showing,  often  in  the  most  offensive  way,  the  insolence 
of  power.  Perhaps  it  was  on  this  very  account  that  he  took 
such  pains  to  show  a  generous  and  even  chivalrous  courtesy 
to  natives  of  rank,  even  while  he  did  not  hesitate,  so  I  was 
told  by  Englishmen,  to  "  snub  "  his  own  countrymen.  Such  a 
bearing  has  certainly  commanded  respect,  and  given  him  a 
personal  joopularity.  But  it  has  not  converted  the  people  to 
loyalty  any  more  than  to  Christianity.  They  run  to  see  the 
parades,  the  Bajahs,  and  the  elephants.  But  as  to  its  exciting 
any  deeper  feeling  in  them,  no  Englishman  who  has  lived 
long  in  the  country  will  trust  to  that  for  a  moment.  Even 
though  English  rule  be  for  their  own  safety  and  protection, 
yet  their  prejiidices  of  race  and  religion  are  stronger  than 
even  considerations  of  interest.  It  is  a  curious  illustration 
of  the  power  of  caste  that  the  very  Kajahs  who  entertain  the 
Prince  of  Wales  with  such  lavish  hospitality,  who  build 
palaces  to  receive  him,  and  spread  before  him  sumptuous 
banquets,  still  do  not  themselves  sit  down  at  the  table ;  they 
will  not  even  eat  with  their  Royal  guest ;  and  count  his  touch 
of  food,  and  even  his  shadow  falling  upon  it,  a  pollution  ! 
Such  a  people  are  not  to  be  trusted  very  far  beyond  the  range 
of  English  guns.  The  security  of  English  rule  in  India  is 
not  to  be  found  in  any  fancied  sentiment  of  loyalty,  which 
does  not  exist,   but  in  the  overwhelming  proof  of  English 


THE   GREAT   MOGUL.  151 

power.  British  possession  is  secured  by  the  well-armed  fort- 
resses which  overlook  every  great  city,  and  which  could  lay 
it  in  ruins  in  twenty-four  houi"s.  The  rule  that  was  obtained 
by  the  sword,  must  be  held  by  the  sword. 

But  the  interest  of  Agra  is  not  in  the  present,  but  in  the 
past.  There  are  few  chapters  in  history  more  interesting 
than  that  of  the  Mohammedan  invasion  of  India — a  history 
dating  back  to  the  Middle  Ages,  but  culminating  about  the 
time  that  Columbus  discovered  the  New  World.  Those 
fierce  warriors,  who  had  ravaged  Central  Asia,  had  long 
made  occasional  incursions  into  India,  but  it  was  not  till  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  that  they  became  complete 
masters  of  the  countiy,  and  the  throne  was  occupied  by  a 
descendant  of  the  house  of  Tamerlane. 

The  dominion  thus  introduced  into  India  was  an  exotic, 
but  like  other  products  of  the  North,  transplanted  into  a 
tropical  cUme,  it  blossomed  and  flowered  anew.  The  Moguls 
(a  corruption  of  Mongols)  had  all  the  wealth  of  Ormus  and  of 
Ind  at  their  feet,  and  they  lavished  it  with  Oriental  prodi- 
gality, displaying  a  royal  state  which  sui-passed  the  grandeur 
of  European  courts. 

The  Great  Mogul !  What  power  there  is  in  a  name  !  Ever 
since  I  was  a  child,  1  had  read  about  the  Great  Mogul,  until 
there  was  a  magic  in  the  very  word.  To  be  sure,  I  had  not 
much  idea  who  or  what  he  was ;  but  perhaps  this  vagueness 
itself  added  to  the  charm  in  my  imagination.  He  was  an 
Oriental  potentate,  Uving  somewhere  in  the  heart  of  Asia,  in 
a  pomp  and  glory  quite  unknown  among  barbarians  of  the 
West.  He  was  a  sort  of  Haroun  al  Raschid,  whose  magnifi- 
cence recalled  the  scenes  of  the  Arabian  Nights.  Even 
more,  he  was  like  the  Grand  Lama,  almost  an  object  of  wor- 
ship. To  keep  up  the  illusion,  he  withdrew  from  observation 
into  his  Palace,  where  he  sat  like  a  god,  rarely  seen  by  mor- 
tal eyes,  except  by  his  coui't,  and  dwelling  in  unapproach- 
able splendor. 


152  FOKT   AND   PALACE   OF   AGRA. 

And  now  here  I  was  in  the  very  Palace  of  the  Great  Mogul, 
walking  through  the  glittering  halls  where  he  held  his  gor- 
geous revelries,  entering  the  private  apartments  of  his  harem, 
and  looking  out  of  the  very  windows  from  which  they  looked 
down  upon  the  valley  of  the  Jumna. 

The  Palace  is  in  the  Citadel  of  Agra,  for  those  old  Emper- 
ors took  good  cai'e  to  draw  fortified  walls  around  their  palaces. 
The  river  front  presents  a  wall  sixty  feet  high,  perhaps  half 
a  mile  long,  of  red  sandstone,  which  heightens  by  contrast 
the  effect  of  the  white  marble  pavilions,  so  graceful  and  airy- 
like,  that  rise  above  it.  The  Fort  is  of  great  extent,  but  it 
is  the  mere  casket  of  the  jewels  within,  the  Palace  and  the 
Mosque,  in  which  one  may  see  the  infinite  beauty  of  that 
Saracenic  architecture,  which  is  found  nowhere  in  Europe  in 
such  perfection,  except  in  the  Alhambra.  The  Mohammedan 
conquerors  of  India,  like  the  same  conquerors  of  Spain,  had 
gorgeous  tastes  in  architecture.  Both  aimed  at  the  grandeur 
of  efiect  produced  by  great  size  and  massive  construction, 
combined  with  a  certain  lightness  and  airiness  of  detail, 
which  give  it  a  peculiar  delicacy  and  grace.  Here  the  im- 
agination flowers  in  stone.  The  solid  marble  is  made  to 
bend  in  vines  and  wreaths  that  run  along  the  walls.  The 
spirit  of  Oriental  luxury  finds  expression  in  cool  marble 
halls,  and  open  courts,  with  plashing  fountains,  where  the 
monarch  could  dally  ^vith  the  beauties  of  his  court.  In  all 
these  things  the  life  of  the  Great  Mogul  did  not  difier  from 
that  of  the  Moorish  Kings  of  Spain. 

The  glory  of  Agra  dates  from  the  reign  of  Akbar  the  Great 
who  made  it  the  capital  of  the  Mogul  Empire.  He  built  the 
Fort,  with  its  long  line  of  castellated  walls,  rising  above  the 
liver,  and  commanding  the  country  around.  Within  this 
enclosure  were  buildings  like  a  city,  aud  open  spaces  with 
canals,  among  which  were  laid  out  gardens,  blooming  with 
flowers.  On  the  river  side  of  the  Fort  was  a  lofty  terrace, 
on  which  stood  tlie  Palace,  built  of  the  purest  marble.     It 


THE   PEAKL   MOSQUE.  153 

was  divided  into  a  number  of  pavilions  whose  white  walls 
and  gilded  domes  glittered  in  the  sun.  Passing  from  one 
])iivilion  to  another  over  tessellated  pavements,  we  enter 
apartments  rich  in  mosaics  and  all  manner  of  precious  stones. 
Along  the  walls  are  little  kiosks  or  balconies,  the  windows 
of  which  are  half  closed  by  screens  of  marble,  which  yet  are 
so  exquisitely  carved  and  pierced  as  to  seem  like  veils  of 
lace,  drawn  before  the  flashing  eyes  that  looked  out  from  be- 
hind them.  Straying  through  these  rich  halls,  one  cannot 
but  reproduce  the  scenes  of  three  centuries  ago,  when  Akbar 
ruled  here  in  the  midst  of  his  court ;  when  the  beauties  of  his 
seraglio,  gathered  from  all  the  East,  sported  in  these  gardens, 
and  looked  out  from  these  latticed  windows. 

Of  equal  beauty  with  the  palace  is  the  mosque.  It  is  call- 
ed the  Pearl  Mosque,  and  a  pearl  indeed  it  is,  such  is  the 
simplicity  of  outline,  and  such  the  exquisite  and  almost  tender 
grace  in  every  arch  and  column.  Said  Bishop  Heber :  "  This 
spotless  sanctuary,  showing  such  a  pure  spirit  of  adoration, 
made  me,  a  Christian,  feel  humbled  when  I  considered  that 
no  architect  of  our  religion  had  ever  been  able  to  produce  any- 
thing equal  to  this  temple  of  Allah." 

But  these  costly  buildings  have  but  little  use  now.  The 
Mosque  is  still  here,  but  few  are  the  Moslems  who  come  to 
pray ;  and  the  palace  is  tenantless.  The  gi-eat  Moguls  are 
departed.  Their  last  descendant  was  the  late  King  of  Delhi, 
who  was  compromised  in  the  Great  Mutiny,  and  passed  the 
rest  of  his  life  as  a  state  prisoner.  Not  a  trace  remains  here 
nor  at  Delhi  of  the  old  Impeiial  grandeur.  Yet  once  in  a  long 
while  these  old  palaces  serve  a  purpose  to  entertain  some 
royal  guest.  Last  week  they  were  fitted  up  for  a  fete  given 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  when  the  stately  apartments  were 
turned  into  reception  rooms  and  banqueting  halls.  It  was  a 
very  brilliant  spectacle,  as  the  British  officers  in  their  uni- 
forms mingled  with  the  native  princes  glittering  with  dia- 
monds. But  it  would  seem  as  if  the  old  Moguls  must  turn 
7* 


154:  THE   VERSAILLES   OF   THE   GKEAT   MOGULS. 

in  their  coffins  to  hear  this  sound  of  revelry  in  their  vacant 
palaces,  and  to  see  the  places  where  the  Mohammedan  ruled 
so  long  now  filled  by  unbelievers. 

Perhaps  one  gets  a  yet  stronger  impression  of  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  Great  Mogul  in  a  visit  to  the  Summer  Palace  of 
Akbar  at  Futtehpore-Sikri,  so  called  from  two  villages  em- 
braced in  the  royal  retreat.  This  was  the  Tersailles  of  the 
old  Moguls.  It  is  over  twenty  miles  from  Agra,  but  start- 
ing early  we  were  able  to  drive  there  and  return  the  same 
day.  The  site  is  a  rocky  hill,  which  might  have  been  chosen 
for  a  fortress.  The  outer  wall  enclosing  it,  with  the  two  vil- 
lages at  its  foot,  is  nine  miles  in  extent.  The  buildings  were 
on  a  scale  to  suit  the  wants  of  an  Imperial  Court — the  plateaxi 
of  the  hill  being  laid  off  in  a  vast  quadrangle,  surrounded  by 
palaces,  and  zenanas  for  the  women  of  the  Imperial  house- 
hold, and  mosques  and  tombs.  Perhaps  the  most  exquisite 
building  of  all  is  a  tomb  in  white  marble — the  resting  place 
of  Selim,  a  Moslem  saint,  a  very  holy  shrine  to  the  true  be- 
lievers; although  the  Mosque  is  far  more  imposing,  since 
before  it  stands  the  loftiest  gateway  in  the  world.  Around 
the  hill  are  distributed  barracks  for  troops,  and  stables  for 
horses  and  camels  and  elephants.  The  open  court  in  the 
centre  of  all  these  buildings  is  an  esplanade  large  enough  to 
draw  up  an  army.  Here  they  show  the  spot  where  Akbar 
used  to  mount  his  ele]jhant,  and  here  his  troops  filed  before 
him,  or  subject  princes  came  with  long  processions  to  pay  him 
homage. 

As  this  palace  was  built  for  a  summer  retreat,  everything 
is  designed  for  coolness ;  pavilions,  covered  overhead,  screen 
from  the  sun,  while  open  at  the  sides,  they  catch  whatever 
summer  air  may  be  stirring.  In  studying  the  architecture 
of  the  Moors  or  the  Moguls,  one  cannot  but  perceive,  that  in 
its  first  inception  it  has  been  modelled  after  forms  familiar 
to  their  nomadic  ancestors.  The  tribes  of  Central  Asia  first 
dwelt  in  tents,  and  when  they  came  to  have  more  fixed  habi- 


THE  VERSAILLES   OF   THE   GREAT  MOGULS.  155 

tations  built  of  wood  or  stone,  they  reproduced  the  same  form, 
so  that  the  canvas  tent  became  the  marble  pavilion — just  as 
the  builders  of  the  Gothic  cathedrals  caught  the  lines  of  their 
mighty  arches  from  the  interlacing  branches  of  trees  which 
made  the  lofty  aisles  of  the  forest.  So  the  tribes  of  the  desert, 
accustomed  to  live  in  tents,  when  endowed  with  empire,  fall- 
ing heir  to  the  riches  of  the  Indies,  still  preserved  the  style 
of  their  former  life,  and  when  they  could  no  longer  dwell  in 
tents,  dwelt  in  tabernacles.  These  palaces  are  almost  all  con- 
structed on  this  type.  There  is  one  building  of  singular 
structure,  five  stoi'ies  high,  wliich  is  a  series  of  terraces,  all 
open  at  the  side. 

If  we  believe  the  tales  of  travellers  and  historians,  noth- 
ing since  the  days  of  Babylon  has  equalled  the  magnificence  of 
the  Great  Mogul.  But  magnificence  in  a  sovereign  generally 
means  misery  in  his  subjects.  The  wealth  that  is  lavished  on 
the  court  is  wrung  from  the  people.  So  it  is  said  to  have  been 
with  some  of  the  successors  of  Akbar.  The  latest  historian 
of  Mussulman  India*  says :  "  They  were  the  most  shameless 
tyi'ants  that  ever  disgraced  a  throne.  Mogul  administration 
....  was  a  monstrous  system  of  oppression  and  extortion, 
which  none  but  Asiatics  could  have  practised  or  endured. 
Justice  was  a  mockery.  Magistrates  could  always  be  bribed ; 
false  witnesses  could  alwavs  be  bought  ....  The  Hindoos 
were  always  in  the  hands  of  grinding  task-masters,  foreigners 
who  knew  not  how  to  pity  or  to  spare." 

But  Akbar  was  not  merely  a  magnificent  Oriental  poten- 
tate— he  was  truly  a  gi-eat  king.  A  Mohammedan  himself, 
he  was  free  from  Moslem  fanaticism  and  bigotry.  Those  con- 
querors of  India  had  a  difficult  task  (which  has  vexed  their 
English  successors  after  two  centuries),  to  rule  a  people  of  a 
different  race  and  a  different  religion.  It  was  harder  for  the 
Moslem  than  for  the  Christian,  because  his  creed  was  more 

•  Mr.  Talboys  Wheeler. 


156  AKBAK   THE   GEE  AT. 

intolerant ;  it  made  it  his  duty  to  destroy  those  whom  he 
could  not  convert.  The  first  law  of  the  Koran  was  the  ex- 
termination of  idolatry,  but  the  Hindoos  were  the  grossest  of 
idolaters.  How  then  could  a  Mohammedan  ruler  establish 
his  throne  without  exterminating  the  inhabitants  ?  But  the 
Moslems — like  many  other  conquerors — learned  to.  bear  the 
ills  which  they  could  not  remove.  Necessity  taught  them 
the  wisdom  of  toleration.  In  this  humane  policy  they  were 
led  by  the  example  of  Akbar,  Avho,  though  a  Mussulman, 
was  not  a  bigot,  and  thought  it  a  pity  that  subtle  questions 
of  belief  should  divide  inhabitants  of  the  same  country.  He 
admitted  Hindoos  to  a  share  in  his  government,  and  endeav- 
ored by  complete  tolerance  to  extinguish  religious  hatreds. 
He  had  even  the  ambition  to  be  a  religious  reformer,  and 
tried  to  blend  the  old  faith  with  the  new,  and  to  make  an 
eclectic  religion  by  putting  together  the  systems  of  Zoroaster, 
of  the  Brahmins,  and  of  Christianity,  while  retaining  some  of 
the  Mohammedan  forms.  But  he  could  not  convert  eveu  his 
own  Hindoo  wives,  of  whom  he  had  one  or  two,  and  built  a 
house  for  each,  in  Hindoo  architecture,  with  altars  for  idol 
worship.  What  impression  then  could  he  make  outside  of 
the  circle  of  his  coui't  ? 

But  greatness  commands  our  homage,  even  though  it 
sometimes  undertakes  tasks  beyond  human  power,  Akbar, 
though  he  could  not  inspire  others  with  his  own  spirit  of 
justice  and  toleration,  deserves  a  place  in  history  as  the 
greatest  sovereign  that  ever  sat  in  the  seat  of  the  Great  Mo- 
gul. And  therefore,  when  in  the  Fort  at  Agra  I  stood  be- 
side the  large  slab  of  black  marble,  on  which  he  was  wont  to 
sit  to  administer  justice  to  his  people,  it  was  with  the  same 
feeling  that  one  would  seek  out  the  oak  of  Vincennes,  under 
which  St.  Louis  sat  for  the  same  purpose ;  and  at  Secundra, 
a  few  miles  from  Agra,  we  visited  his  tomb,  as  on  another 
continent  we  liad  visited  the  tomb  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
and  of  Napoleon. 


THE   TAJ.  167 

But  the  jewel  of  India — tlie  Koh-i-noor  of  its  beauty — is 
the  Taj,  the  tomb  built  by  the  Emperor  Shah  Jehan,  the 
grandson  of  Akbar,  for  his  wife,  whom  he  loved  with  an 
idolatrous  affection,  and  on  her  deathbed  promised  to  rear 
to  her  memory  such  a  mausoleum  as  had  never  been  erected 
before.  To  carry  out  his  purpose  he  gathered  architects 
from  all  countries,  who  rivalled  each  other  in  the  extrav- 
agance and  costliness  of  their  designs.  The  result  was  a 
structure  which  cost  fabulous  sums  of  money  (the  whole 
empire  being  placed  under  contribution  for  it,  as  were  the 
Jews  for  the  Temple  of  Solomon),  and  employed  twenty 
thousand  workmen  for  seventeen  years.  The  building  thus 
erected  is  one  of  the  most  famous  in  the  world — like  the 
Alhambra  or  St.  Peter's — and  of  which  enthusiastic  travel- 
lers ai'e  apt  to  say  that  it  is  worth  going  around  the  world 
to  see.  This  would  almost  discourage  the  attempt  to  de- 
scribe it,  but  I  will  try  and  give  some  faint  idea  of  its  mar- 
vellous beauty. 

But  how  can  I  convey  to  others  what  is  but  a  picture 
in  my  memory  ?  Descriptions  of  architecture  are  apt  to 
be  vague  unless  aided  by  pictorial  illustrations.  Mei-e 
figures  and  measurements  are  dry  and  cold.  The  most  I 
shall  aim  at  will  be  to  give  a  general  (but  I  hope  not  in- 
distinct) impression  of  it.  For  this  let  us  approach  it 
gradually. 

It  stands  on  the  banks  of  the  Jumna,  a  mile  below  the 
Fort  at  Agra.  As  you  approach  it,  it  is  not  exposed  abrupt- 
ly to  view,  but  is  surrounded  by  a  garden.  You  enter  under 
a  lofty  gateway,  and  before  you  is  an  avenue  of  cypresses  a 
third  of  a  mile  long,  whose  dark  foliage  is  a  setting  for  a  form 
of  dazzling  whiteness  at  the  end.  That  is  the  Taj.  It 
stands,  not  on  the  level  of  your  eye,  but  on  a  double  terrace  ; 
the  first,  of  red  sandstone,  twenty  feet  high,  and  a  thousand 
feet  broad ;  at  the  extremities  of  which  stand  two  mosques, 
of  the  same  dark  stone,  facing  each  other.     Midway  between 


158  .    AIEY   LIGHTNESS   AND    GRACE. 

rises  the  second  terrace,  of  marble,  fifteen  feet  high,  and 
three  hundred  feet  squai-e,  on  the  corners  of  which  stand  four 
marble  minarets.  In  the  centre  of  all,  thus  "  reared  in  air," 
stands  the  Taj.  It  is  built  of  marble — no  other  material 
than  this  of  pure  and  stainless  white  were  fit  for  a  purpose 
so  sacred.  It  is  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  square  (or  rather 
it  is  eight-sided,  since  the  corners  are  truncated),  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  dome,  which  rises  nearly  two  hundred  feet 
above  the  pavement  below. 

These  figures  rather  belittle  the  Taj,  or  at  least  disappoint 
those  who  looked  for  great  size.  There  are  many  larger 
buildings  in  the  world.  But  that  which  distinguishes  it 
from  all  others,  and  gives  it  a  rare  and  ideal  beauty,  is  the 
union  of  majesty  and  grace.  This  is  the  peculiar  effect  of 
Saracenic  architecture.  The  slender  columns,  the  springing 
arches,  the  swelling  domes,  the  tall  minarets,  all  combine  to 
give  an  impression  of  airy  lightness,  which  is  not  destroyed 
even  when  the  foundations  are  laid  with  massive  solidity. 
But  it  is  in  the  finish  of  their  structures  that  they  excelled 
all  the  world.  Bishop  Heber  said  truly  :  "  They  built  like 
Titans  and  finished  like  jewellers."  This  union  of  two 
opposite  features  makes  the  beauty  of  the  Taj.  While  its 
walls  are  thick  and  strong,  they  are  pierced  by  high  arched 
windows  which  relieve  their  heaviness.  Vines  and  ara- 
besques running  over  the  stone  work  give  it  the  lightness  of 
foliage,  of  trees  blossoming  with  flowers.  In  the  interior 
there  is  an  extreme  and  almost  feminine  grace,  as  if  here 
the  strength  of  man  would  pay  homage  to  the  delicacy  of 
woman.  Enclosing  the  sacred  spot  is  a  screen  of  marble, 
carved  into  a  kind  of  fretwork,  and  so  pure  and  white  that 
light  shines  through  it  as  through  alabaster,  falling  softly 
on  that  which  is  within.  The  Emperor,  bereaved  of  his 
wife,  lavished  riches  on  her  very  dust,  casting  precious 
stones  upon  her  tomb,  as  if  he  were  placing  a  string  of 
pearls   around   her  neck.      It  is   overrun  with  vines   and 


LAST   VIEW   BY   MOONLIGHT.  158 

flowers,  cut  iu  stone,  and  set  with  onyx  and  jasper  and 
lapis  lazuli,  carneliaus  and  turquoises,  and  chalcedonies  and 
sapphires. 

But  the  body  rests  in  the  crypt  below.  We  descend  a  few 
steps  and  stand  by  the  very  sarcophagus  in  which  all  that 
loveliness  is  enshrined.  Another  sarcophagus  contains  the 
body  of  her  husband.  Their  tombs  were  covered  with  fresh 
flowers,  a  perpetual  tribute  to  that  love  which  was  so  strong 
even  on  the  throne  ;  to  those  who  were  thus  united  in  life, 
and  in  death  are  not  divided. 

Here  sentiment  comes  in  to  affect  our  sense  of  the  beauty 
of  the  place.  If  it  were  not  for  the  toucliing  history  con- 
nected with  it,  I  could  not  agree  with  those  who  pronounce 
the  Taj  the  most  beautiful  building  in  the  world.  Merely  as 
a  building,  it  does  not  "  overcome  "  me  so  much  as  another 
marble  structure — the  Cathedral  of  Milan.  I  could  not  say 
with  Bishop  Heber  that  the  mosques  of  Islam  are  more 
beautiful,  or  more  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  devotion, 
than  Christian  churches  or  cathedrals.  But  the  Taj  is 
not  a  mosque,  it  is  a  tomb — a  monument  to  the  dead.  And 
that  gives  it  a  tender  interest,  which  spiritualizes  the  cold 
marble,  and  makes  it  more  than  a  building — a  poem  and  a 
dream. 

This  impression  grew  upon  us  the  more  we  saw  it.  On 
our  last  night  in  Agra  we  drove  there  to  take  our  last  view 
by  moonlight.  All  slept  peacefully  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jumna.  Slowly  we  walked  through  the  long  avenue  of  dark 
cypresses,  that  stood  like  ranks  of  mourners  waiting  for  the 
dead  to  pa.ss,  their  tops  waving  gently  in  the  night  wind,  as 
if  breathing  a  soft  requiem  over  the  departed.  Mounting 
the  terrace  we  stood  again  before  the  Taj,  rising  into  the 
calm  blue  heavens.  A  few  nights  before  the  Prince  of  Wales 
had  been  here,  and  the  interior  had  been  illuminated.  As 
we  had  not  seen  it  then,  we  had  engaged  attendants  with 
blue  lights,  who  gave  us  an  illumination  of  our  own.     It 


160  THE   TAJ   BT   MOONLIGHT. 

was  a  weird  scene  as  these  swarthy  natives,  with  naked 
arms,  held  aloft  their  toi'ches,  whose  blue  flames,  flaring  and 
flickering,  cast  a  spectral  light  upward  into  the  dim  vault 
above. 

To  add  to  the  ghostly  effect,  we  heard  whispers  above  us, 
as  if  there  were  unseen  witnesses.  It  was  the  echo  of  our 
own  voices,  but  one  starts  to  hear  himself  in  such  a  place. 
The  dome  is  a  whispering  gallery ;  and  as  we  stood  beside 
the  tomb,  and  spoke  in  a  low  voice  (not  to  disturb  the  sleep 
of  the  dead),  our  words  seemed  to  be  repeated.  Any  sound 
at  the  tomb — a  sigh  of  pity,  or  a  plaintive  melody — rising 
upward,  comes  back  again, — faintly  indeed,  yet  distinctly  and 
sweetly — as  if  the  very  air  trembled  in  sympathy,  repeating 
the  accents  of  love  and  of  despaii',  or  as  if  unseen  spirits 
were  floating  above,  and  singing  the  departing  soul  to  its 
rest. 

Then  we  went  down  once  more  into  the  crypt  below, 
where  sleeps  the  form  of  the  beautiful  empress,  and  of  Shah 
Jehan,  who  built  this  monument  for  her,  at  her  side.  The 
place  was  dark,  and  the  lights  in  the  hands  of  the  attendants 
cast  but  a  feeble  glimmer,  but  this  deep  shadow  and  silence 
suited  the  tenor  of  our  thoughts,  and  we  lingered,  reluctant 
to  depart  from  the  resting-place  of  one  so  much  beloved. 

As  we  came  out  the  moon  was  riding  high  overhead,  flood- 
ing the  marble  i)ile  with  beauty.  Round  and  round  we 
walked,  looking  up  at  arch  and  dome  and  minai-et.  At  such 
an  hour  the  Taj  was  so  pale  and  ghostlike,  that  it  did  not 
seem  like  a  building  reared  by  human  hands,  but  to  have 
grown  where  it  stood — like  a  night-blooming  Cereus,  rising 
slowly  in  the  moonlight — lifting  its  domes  and  pinnacles 
(like  branches  growing  heavenward)  towards  that  world 
which  is  the  home  of  the  love  which  it  was  to  preserve  in 
perpetual  memory. 

With  such  thoughts  we  kept  our  eyes  fixed  on  that  glitter- 
ing vision,  as  if  we  feared  that  even  as  we  gazed  it  might 


THE  TAJ   BY  MOONLIGHT.  161 

vanish  out  of  our  sight.  Below  us  the  Jumaa,  flowing  silent- 
ly, seemed  like  an  image  of  human  life  as  it  glided  by.  And 
so  at  last  we  turned  to  depart,  and  bade  farewell  to  the  Taj, 
feeling  that  we  should  never  look  on  it  again ;  but  hoping 
that  it  might  stand  for  ages  to  tell  its  history  of  faithful  love 
to  future  generations.  Flow  on,  sweet  Jumna,  by  the  mar- 
ble walls,  reflecting  the  moonbeams  in  thy  placid  breast ;  and 
in  thy  gentle  murmurs  whispering  evermore  of  Love  and 
Death,  and  Love  that  cannot  die  ! 


CHAPTER   XIIL 

DELHI A   MOHAMMEDAN    FESTIVAL — SCENES    IN    THE    MUTINY. 

Delhi  is  the  Rome  of  the  old  Mogul  Empire.  Agra  was 
the  capital  in  the  time  of  Akbar,  but  Delhi  is  an  older  city. 
It  had  a  history  before  the  Moguls.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
destroyed  and  rebuilt  seven  times,  and  thus  is  overspread 
■with  the  ashes  of  many  civilizations.  Its  very  ruins  attest 
its  ancient  greatness.  The  plain  around  Delhi  is  like  the 
Campagna  around  Rome — covered  with  the  remains  of  pal- 
aces and  mosques,  towers  and  tombs,  which  give  credit  to  the 
historical  statement  that  the  city  was  once  thirty  miles  in  cir- 
cuit, and  had  two  millions  of  inhabitants.  This  greatness 
tempted  the  spoilei*.  In  1398  it  was  plundered  by  Tamer- 
lane ;  in  1525  it  was  taken  by  his  descendant,  Baber,  the 
founder  of  the  Mogul  dynasty.  Akbar  made  Agra,  112 
miles  to  the  south,  his  capital ;  but  Shah  Jehan,  the  monarch 
of  magnificent  tastes,  who  built  the  Taj,  attracted  by  the 
mighty  memoi'ies  of  this  Rome  of  Asia,  returned  to  Delhi, 
and  here  laid  the  foundations  of  a  city  that  was  to  exceed  all 
the  capitals  that  had  gone  before  it,  if  not  in  size,  at  least  in 
splendor. 

That  dtetinction  it  still  retains  among  the  cities  of  India. 
Though  not  a  tenth  of  old  Delhi  in  size,  it  has  to-day  over 
160,000  inhabitants.  It  is  surrounded  by  walls  seven  miles 
in  extent.  We  enter  under  lofty  arched  gateways,  and  find 
ourselves  in  the  midst  of  a  picturesque  population,  represent- 
ing all  the  races  of  Southern  and  Central  Asia.  The  city  is 
much  gayer  than  Agra.     Its  streets  are  full  of  people  of  all 


FOKT   AND   PALACE   OF   DELHI.  163 

colors  and  costumes.  Its  shops  are  rich  in  Indian  jewehy, 
■which  is  manufactured  here,  and  in  Cashmere  shawls  and 
other  Oriental  fabrics ;  and  in  walking  through  the  Chand- 
ney  Chook,  the  Broadway  of  Delhi,  one  might  imagine  him- 
self in  the  bazaars  of  Cairo  or  Constantinople. 

The  Fort  is  very  like  that  of  Agra,  being  built  of  the  same 
red  sandstone,  but  much  larger,  and  encloses  a  Palace  which 
Bishop  Heber  thought  superior  to  the  Kremlin.  In  the  Hall 
of  Audience,  whicli  still  remains,  stood  the  famous  Peacock 
Throne,  which  is  estimated  to  have  been  worth  thirty  millions 
of  dollars.  Here  the  Great  Mogul  lived  in  a  magnificence 
till  then  unknown  even  in  Oriental  courts.  At  the  time  that 
Louis  XIV.  was  on  the  throne  of  France,  a  French  traveller, 
Tavernier,  made  his  way  to  the  East,  and  though  he  had  seen 
all  the  glory  of  Versailles,  he  was  dazzled  by  this  greater 
Eastern  splendor.  But  what  a  comment  on  the  vanity  of  all 
earthly  power,  that  the  monarch  who  built  this  Palace  was 
not  permitted  to  live  in  it !  He  was  dethroned  by  his  son, 
the  wily  Aurungzebe,  who  imprisoned  his  father  and  mur- 
dered his  brother,  to  get  possession  of  the  throne.  Shah 
Jehan  was  taken  back  to  Agra,  and  confined  in  the  Fort, 
where  he  passed  the  last  years  of  his  life.  But  as  it  is  only 
a  mile  from  the  Taj,  the  dethroned  King,  as  he  sat  in  his  high 
tower,  could  see  from  his  windows  the  costly  mausoleum  he 
had  reared.  Death  came  at  last  to  his  relief,  as  it  comes 
alike  to  kings  and  captives,  and  he  was  laid  in  his  marble 
tomb,  beside  the  wife  he  had  so  much  loved. 

This  story  of  crime  is  relieved  by  one  of  the  most  touch- 
ing instances  of  fidelity  recorded  in  history.  When  all 
others  deserted  the  fallen  monarch,  there  was  one  true  heart 
that  was  faithful  still.  He  had  a  daughtei-,  the  favorite 
sister  of  that  murdered  brother,  who  shai-ed  her  father's 
captivity.  She  was  famous  throughout  the  East  for  her  wit 
and  beauty,  but  sorrow  brought  out  the  nobler  traits  of  her 
character.     She  clung  to  her  father,  and  thus  comforted  the 


164  A   FAITHFUL   DAUGHTER. 

living  while  she  mourned  for  the  dead.  She  became  very 
religious,  and  spent  her  life  in  deeds  of  charity.  She  is  not 
buried  in  the  Taj  Mahal,  but  at  Delhi  in  a  humble  grave. 
Lowly  in  spirit  and  broken  in  heart,  she  shrank  from  display 
even  in  her  tomb.  She  desired  to  be  buried  in  the  common 
earth,  with  only  the  green  turf  above  her.  There  she  sleeps 
beneath  a  lowly  mound  (though  surrounded  by  costly  marble 
shrines),  and  near  the  head  is  a  plain  tablet,  with  an  inscrip- 
tion in  Persian,  which  reads  :  "  Let  no  rich  canopy  cover  my 
grave.  This  grass  is  the  best  covering  for  the  tomb  of  one 
who  was  poor  in  spirit — the  humble,  the  transitory  Jehanara, 
the  disciple  of  the  holy  men  of  Cheest,  the  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Shah  Jehan."  Was  there  ever  a  more  touching 
inscription  ?  As  I  stood  by  this  grave,  on  which  the  green 
grass  was  growing,  and  read  these  simple  words,  I  was  more 
moved  than  even  when  standing  by  the  marble  sarcophagus 
under  the  dome  of  the  Taj.  That  covered  an  Emperor's 
wife,  and  was  the  monument  of  a  royal  husband's  affection; 
this  recalled  a  daughter's  fidelity — broken  in  heart,  yet 
loving  and  faithful,  and  devoted  to  the  last. 

Bub  humiliations  were  to  come  to  the  house  of  Aurung- 
zebe.  As  Loxiis  XIV.  on  his  deathbed  had  to  mourn  his 
haughty  policy,  which  had  ended  in  disaster  and  defeat,  so 
Aurungzebe  was  hardly  in  his  grave  when  troubles  gathered 
round  his  house.*  About  thirty  years  after,  a  conqueror 
from  Persia,  Nadir  Shah,  came  down  from  the  passes  of  the 
Himalayas,  ravaged  the  North  of  India  to  the  gates  of  Delhi, 
plundered  the  city  and  the  palace,  and  carried  off  the  Pea- 
cock Throne — putting  oxit  the  eyes  of  the  Great  Mogul,  tell- 

*  There  are  many  parallels  between  Louis  XIV.  and  Aurungzebe. 
They  were  contemporaries — and  both  had  long  reigns,  the  former  a 
little  over,  and  the  latter  a  little  less  than,  half  a  century.  They 
were  the  most  splendid  sovereigns  of  their  time — one  in  Europe,  and 
the  other  in  Asia,  and  with  both  the  extravagance  and  prodigality  of 
the  mouarchs  prepared  the  way  for  revolution  after  their  deaths. 


DELHI   THE   INDIAN  MECCA.  166 

ing  him  in  bitter  mockery  that  he  had  no  more  need  of  his 
throne,  since  he  had  no  longer  eyes  to  see  it ! 

Other  sorrows  followed  hard  after.  The  kingdom  was 
overrun  by  the  teriible  Mahrattas,  whose  horses'  hoofs  had 
so  often  tx-ampled  the  plains  of  India.  Then  came  the  Eng- 
lish, who  took  Delhi  at  the  beginning  of  this  century.  But 
still  the  phantom  of  the  old  Empire  lived,  and  there  was  an 
Indian  Rajah,  who  bore  the  sounding  name  of  the  Great 
Mogul.  The  phantom  continued  till  the  Mutiny  twenty 
years  ago,  when  this  "  King  of  Delhi"  was  set  up  by  the 
Sepoys  as  their  rallying  cry.  The  overthrow  of  the  Rebel- 
lion was  the  end  of  his  house.  His  sons  were  put  to  death, 
and  he  was  sent  into  exile,  and  the  Great  Mogul  ceased  to 
reign. 

But  though  he  no  longer  reigns  in  Delhi,  yet  it  is  one  of 
the  chief  centres  of  Islam  in  the  world.  Queen  Victoria  has 
more  Mohammedan  subjects  than  the  Sultan.  There  are 
forty  millions  of  Moslems  in  India.  Delhi  is  their  Mecca. 
It  has  some  forty  mosques,  whose  tall  minarets  and  gilded 
domes  produce  a  very  brilliant  effect.  One  especially,  the 
Jumma  Musjid,  is  the  most  magnificent  in  India.  It  stands 
on  a  high  terrace,  mounted  by  long  flights  of  steps,  which  give 
it  an  imposing  effect.  Huge  bronze  doors  open  into  a  large 
court,  with  a  fountain  in  the  centre,  and  surrounded  by  ai'ched 
passages,  like  cloisters.  Here  are  preserved  with  religious 
care  some  very  ancient  copies  of  the  Koran,  and  the  footprint 
of  Mohammed  in  black  marble  (!),  and  (holiest  relic  of  all) 
a  coarse  red  hair,  which  is  said  to  have  been  plucked  from 
the  beard  of  the  prophet ! 

Nor  is  Mohammedanism  in  India  a  dead  faith,  whose  fire 
has  died  out,  its  forms  only  being  still  j^reserved.  The  re- 
currence of  one  of  their  festivals  arouses  their  religious  zeal 
to  the  highest  pitch  of  fanaticism.  We  were  in  Delhi  at  the 
time  of  the  Mohurrim,  the  Moslem  "  Feast  of  Martyrs,"  de- 
signed to  commemorate  the  bloody  deaths  of  the  gi-andsons 


166  A  MOHAMMEDAN   FESTIVAL. 

of  Mohammed.  Macaulay,  in  his  review  of  the  Life  of  Lord 
Clive,  gives  an  instance  in  which  this  day  was  chosen  for  a 
military  assault  because  of  the  freiizy  with  which  it  kindled 
all  true  Mussulmans.     He  says : 

"  It  was  the  great  Mohammedan  festival,  which  is  sacred  to  the 
memory  of  Hosein,  the  son  of  Ali.  The  history  of  Islam  contains 
nothing  more  touching  than  the  event  which  gave  rise  to  that  solem- 
nity. The  mournful  legend  relates  how  the  chief  of  the  Fatimites, 
when  all  his  brave  followers  had  perished  round  him,  drank  hia 
latest  draught  of  water  and  uttered  his  latest  prayer ;  how  the  assas- 
sins carried  his  head  in  triumph  ;  how  the  tyrant  smote  the  lifeless 
lips  with  his  staff ;  and  how  a  few  old  men  recollected  with  tears  that 
they  had  seen  those  lips  pressed  to  the  lips  of  the  Prophet  of  God. 
After  the  lapse  of  twelve  centuries,  the  recurrence  of  this  solemn  sea- 
son excites  the  fiercest  and  saddest  emotions  in  the  bosoms  of  the 
devout  Moslems  of  India.  They  work  themselves  up  to  such  ago- 
nies of  rage  and  lamentation,  that  some,  it  is  said,  have  given  up  the 
ghost  from  the  mere  effect  of  mental  excitement. " 

Such  was  the  celebration  that  we  witnessed  in  Delhi.  The 
martyrdom  of  these  Moslem  saints  is  commemorated  by  little 
shrines  in  their  houses,  made  of  paper  and  tinsel,  and  on  the 
great  day  of  the  feast  they  go  in  procession  out  of  the  city  to 
a  cemetery  five  miles  distant,  and  tliere  bury  them  in  hun- 
dreds of  newly-opened  graves.  As  we  drove  out  of  Delhi, 
we  found  the  procession  on  its  march  ;  men,  women,  and 
children  by  tens  of  thousands  on  foot,  and  others  in  bullock- 
carts,  or  mounted  on  horses,  camels,  and  elephants.  Immense 
crowds  gathered  by  the  roadside,  mounting  the  steps  of  old 
palaces,  or  climbing  to  the  tops  of  houses,  to  see  this  mighty 
procession  pass,  as  it  went  rolling  forward  in  a  wild  frenzy 
to  its  Golgotha — its  place  of  a  skull.  There  they  lay  down 
these  images  of  their  saints  as  they  would  bury  their  dead.  We 
went  into  the  cemetery,  and  saw  the  open  graves,  and  the  lit- 
tle shrines  garlanded  with  flowers,  that  were  laid  in  the  earth, 
not  (so  far  as  we  saw)  with  weeping  and  wailing,  but  rather 
with  a  feeling  of  triumph  and  victory. 


THE   SIEGE   OF   DELHI.  167 

Leaving  this  scene  of  wild  fanaticism,  we  rode  on  a  few 
miles  farther  to  the  Kootub  Miuar,  the  loftiest  isolated 
tower  iu  the  world,  that  has  stood  there  six  hundred  years, 
looking  down  on  all  the  strange  scenes  that  have  passed  with- 
in its  horizon,  since  watchers  from  its  summit  saw  the  armies 
of  Tamerlane  march  by.  We  rode  back  through  a  succession 
of  ruins,  stopping  at  several  royal  tombs,  but  most  interested 
in  one  where  the  sons  of  the  aged  king  of  Delhi  took  refuge 
after  the  fall  of  the  city,  and  from  which  they  were  taken  out 
by  Captain  Hodson,  and  shot  in  the  presence  of  their  deluded 
followers,  and  their  bodies  exposed  in  the  Chandney  Chook,  to 
the  terror  of  the  wretched  people,  who  had  seen  the  cruelty 
of  these  young  princes,  and  wei'e  awed  to  see  the  retribution 
that  overtook  those  who  had  stained  their  hands  with  blood. 

This  tragedy  took  place  less  than  twenty  years  ago,  and 
recalls  that  recent  history  from  which  fresh  interest  gathers 
round  the  walls  of  Delhi.  This  city  played  a  great  part  in 
the  Mutiny  of  1857.  Indeed  it  broke  out  at  Meerut,  thirty 
miles  from  here,  where  the  Sepoys  rose  upon  their  officers, 
and  massacred  the  Europeans  of  both  sexes,  and  then  rushed 
along  the  road  to  Delhi,  to  rouse  the  natives  here  to  mutiny. 
Had  those  in  command  anticipated  such  a  blow,  they  might 
have  rallied  their  little  force,  and  shut  themselves  up  in  the 
Fort  (as  was  done  at  Agra),  with  provisions  and  ammunition 
for  a  siege,  and  there  kept  the  tigers  at  bay.  But  they  could 
not  believe  that  the  native  troops,  that  had  been  obedient 
till  now,  could  "  turn  and  rend  them."  They  were  unde- 
ceived when  they  saw  these  Sepoys  drunk  Avith  blood,  rush- 
ing into  the  town,  calling  on  their  fellow-soldiers  to  rise  and 
kill.  Many  perished  on  the  spot.  But  they  fell  not  inglo- 
riously.  A  brave  officer  shut  himself  up  in  the  Arsenal,  and 
when  the  mutineei-s  had  gathered  around,  ready  to  bui-st  in, 
applied  the  torch,  and  blew  himself  aud  a  thousand  natives 
into  the  air.  The  Httle  handful  of  troops  fled  from  the  town, 
and  were  scarcely  able  to  rally  enough  to  be  safe  even  at  a 


168  THE   SIEGE   OF   DELHI. 

distance.  But  then  rose  the  unconquerable  English  spirit. 
With  this  small  nucleus  of  an  army,  and  such  reinforcements 
as  could  be  brought  from  the  Punjaub,  they  held  out  through 
the  long,  dreadful  Summer,  till  in  September  they  had  mus- 
tered all  together  seven  thousand  men  (half  of  whom  were 
natives),  with  which  they  proposed  to  assault  a  walled  city 
held  by  sixty  thousand  native  troops  !  Planting  their  guns 
on  the  Pidge,  a  mile  or  two  distant,  they  threw  shells  into  the 
town,  and  as  their  fire  took  effect,  they  advanced  their  lines 
nearer  and  nearer.  But  they  did  not  advance  unopposed. 
Many  of  the  Sepoys  were  practised  artillerists  (since  the 
Mutiny  all  the  artillery  regiments  in  India  are  English),  and 
answered  back  with  fatal  aim.  Still,  though  the  English  ranks 
were  thinned,  they  kept  pushing  on  ;  they  came  nearer  and 
nearer,  and  the  roar  of  their  guns  was  louder  and  louder.  Ap- 
proaching the  walls  at  one  point,  they  wished  to  blow  up  the 
Cashmere  Gate.  It  was  a  desperate  undertaking.  But  when 
"Was  English  courage  known  to  fail  ?  A  dozen  men  were  de- 
tailed for  the  attempt.  Four  natives  carried  bags  of  powder 
on  their  shoulders,  but  as  they  drew  within  rifle  range,  Eng- 
lish soldiers  stepped  up  to  take  their  places,  for  they  would  not 
expose  tlieir  native  allies  to  a  danger  which  they  were  ready 
to  encounter  themselves.  The  very  daring  of  the  move- 
ment for  an  instant  be\vildered  the  enemy.  The  Sepoys  with- 
in saw  these  men  coming  up  to  the  gate,  but  thinking  per- 
haps that  they  were  deserters,  did  not  fire  upon  them,  and  it 
was  not  till  they  darted  back  again  that  they  saw  the  design. 
Then  came  the  moment  of  danger,  when  the  mine  was  to  be 
fired.  A  sergeant  advanced  quickly,  but  fell  mortally  wound- 
ed ;  a  second  sprang  to  the  post,  but  was  shot  dead ;  the 
third  succeeded,  but  fell  wounded ;  the  fourth  rushed  for- 
ward, and  seeing  the  train  lighted  sprang  into  the  moat,  the 
bullets  whizzed  over  him,  and  the  next  instant  a  tremendous 
explosion  threw  the  heavy  wall  into  the  air. 

Such  are  the  tales  of  courage  still  told  by  the  camp-fires  of 


MEMORIES    OF   THE    SIEGE.  169 

the  regiments  here.  More  than  once  did  we  walk  out  to  the 
Cashmere  Gate,  and  jfrom  that  point  followed  the  track  of 
the  English  troops  as  they  stormed  the  city,  pausing  at  the 
spot  where  the  brave  General  Nicholson  fell.  With  mingled 
pride  and  sadness,  we  visited  his  grave,  and  those  of  others 
who  fell  in  the  siege.  The  English  church  is  surrounded 
with  them,  and  many  a  tablet  on  its  walls  tells  of  the  heroic 
dead.  Such  memories  are  a  legacy  to  the  living.  We  at- 
tended service  there,  and  as  we  saw  the  soldiers  filing  into 
the  church,  and  heard  the  swords  of  their  officers  ringing  on 
the  pavement,  we  felt  that  the  future  of  India  was  safe  when 
committed  to  such  brave  defenders  ! 

This  church  was  standing  during  the  siege,  and  above  it 
rose  a  gilded  ball,  supporting  a  cross,  which  was  an  object  of 
hatred  to  both  Mohammedan  and  Hindoo,  who  wished  to 
see  this  symbol  of  our  religion  brought  to  tlie  ground.  Again 
and  again  they  aimed  their  guns  at  it,  and  the  globe  was  rid- 
dled with  balls,  but  still  the  cross  stood,  until  the  city  was 
completely  subdued,  when  it  was  reverently  taken  down  by 
English  hands,  and  carried  to  the  Historical  Museum,  to  be 
kept  as  a  sacred  relic.  May  we  not  take  this  as  a  sign  of  the 
way  in  which  the  Christiarn  faith  will  stand  against  all  the 
false  religions  of  India? 

But  I  turn  fi-om  battles  and  sieges  to  a  lighter  picture. 
One  may  find  great  amusment  in  the  street  scenes  of  Delhi, 
which  will  relieve  these  "  dun  clouds  of  war."  In  the  Mo- 
hammedan procession  we  had  seen  hundreds  of  the  drollest 
little  carts,  drawn  by  oxen,  on  which  the  natives  were  stuck 
like  pins,  the  sight  of  which,  with  the  loads  of  happy  life 
they  bore,  excited  our  envy.  Before  leaving  Delhi,  we 
thought  it  would  be  very  "  nice  "  to  take  a  turn  around  the 
town  in  one  of  these  extraordinary  vehicles.  We  had  tried 
almost  every  kind  of  locomotion ;  we  had  ridden  on  horses 
and  donkeys,  on  camels  and  elephants,  and  had  been  borne 
in  palanquins ;  but  one  more  glory  awaited  us — to  ride  in  a 
8 


170  RIDE  IN   AN    OX-CAKT. 

"  ball," — and  so  we  commanded  one  to  attend  us  for  our 
royal  pleasure.  But  when  it  drew  up  in  the  yard  of  the 
hotel,  we  looked  at  it  in  amazement.  There  stood  the  oxen, 
as  ready  to  draw  us  as  a  load  of  hay  ;  but  what  a  "  chariot  " 
was  this  behind  !  It  was  a  kind  of  baby-house  on  cart-wheels 
— a  cushion  and  a  canopy — one  seat,  with  a  sort  of  umbrella 
over  it,  under  which  a  native  "  lady  "  sits  in  state,  with  her 
feet  curled  up  between  her.  How  we  were  to  get  into  it  was 
the  question.  There  were  three  of  us,  for  the  surgeon  of  the 
Peshawur  had  joined  us.  C.  of  course  had  the  place  of 
honor,  while  the  Doctor  and  I  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  seat, 
with  our  lower  limbs  extended  at  right  angles.  The  "  bali  " 
is  rigged  somewhat  like  an  Irish  jaunting-car,  in  which  one 
sits  sidewise,  hanging  over  the  wheels ;  only  in  a  jaunting- 
car  there  is  a  board  for  the  feet  to  rest  upon,  whereas  here 
the  feet  are  literally  "  nowhere."  In  the  East  there  is  no 
provision  for  the  lower  part  of  a  man.  Legs  are  very  much  in 
the  way.  A  Turk  or  Hindoo  curls  them  up  under  him,  and 
has  done  with  them.  Biit  if  an  impracticable  European  will 
dangle  them  abourt  where  they  ought  not  to  be,  he  must  take 
the  consequences.  I  find  that  the  only  way  is  to  look  out 
for  the  main  chance — to  see  that  the  body  is  safe,  and  let  the 
legs  take  care  of  themselves.  Then  if  an  accident  happens, 
I  am  not  responsible ;  I  have  done  my  duty.  So  we  now 
"  faced  the  situation,"  and  while  the  central  personage  re- 
posed like  a  Sultana  on  a  soft  divan,  her  attendants  faced  in 
either  direction,  with  their  extremities  flying  all  abroad. 
We  felt  as  if  sitting  on  the  edge  of  a  rickety  chair,  that 
might  break  any  moment  and  pitch  lis  into  the  street.  But 
we  held  fast  to  the  slender  bamboo  reeds  that  supported  the 
canopy,  and,  thrusting  our  feet  into  the  air,  bade  the  chariot 
proceed. 

The  driver  sits  astride  the  tongue  of  the  cax-t,  and  sets  the 
thing  going  by  giving  the  animals  a  kick  in  the  rear,  or  seiz- 
ing the  tails  and  giving  them  a  twist,  which  sets  the  beasts 


EIDE   IN   AN   OX-CART.  171 

into  an  awkward,  lumbering  gallop.  He  was  proud  of  his 
team,  and  wished  to  show  us  their  mettle,  and  now  gave  the 
tails  a  Herculean  twist,  which  sent  them  tearing  like  mad 
bulls  along  the  street.  Everybody  turned  to  look  at  us, 
while  we  laughed  at  the  absurdity  of  our  appearance,  and 
wished  that  we  could  have  our  photograph  taken  to  send 
home.  Thus  we  rode  to  the  great  Mosque  of  the  city,  and 
through  the  Chandney  Chook,  the  street  of  the  bazaars,  and 
back  to  our  hotel,  having  had  glory  enough  for  one  day. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

FROM    DELHI    TO    LAHORE. 

Times  have  changed  since  twenty  years  ago,  when  Delhi 
was  the  head  and  front  of  the  Rebellion.  It  is  now  as  tran- 
quil and  loyal  as  any  city  in  India.  As  we  rode  out  to  the 
Ridge,  where  the  English  planted  their  guns  during  the 
siege,  we  found  it  surmounted  by  a  lofty  Memorial  Tower, 
reared  to  mark  the  spot  where  the  courage  of  a  few  thousand 
men  saved  India.  So  completely  is  the  English  power  re- 
established, that  Delhi  was  lately  chosen  over  all  Indian 
cities  as  the  one  where  should  be  gathered  the  most  imposing 
display  of  troops  to  do  honor  to  their  future  sovereign,  the 
Prince  of  Wales.  Some  forty  regiments,  native  and  English, 
were  mustered  here  to  form  a  grand  Camp  of  Exercise. 
Never  before  had  India  witnessed  such  a  military  display. 
Here  were  native  regiments  in  the  picturesque  costumes  of 
th-e  East — the  superb  Sikh  cavalry;  a  corps  of  guides 
mounted  on  camels ;  and  heavy  artillery  drawn  by  elephants, 
which,  as  they  came  before  the  Prince,  threw  up  their  trunks 
and  trumpeted  a  salute  to  the  Majesty  of  England.  Two 
weeks  passed  in  military  manoeuvres,  and  the  nights  in  a 
constant  round  of  festivities.  The  Fort  was  brilliantly  illu- 
minated, and  the  Palace  was  thronged  with  "  fair  women  and 
brave  men,"  but  they  were  those  of  another  race,  and  speak- 
ing another  language,  from  any  known  to  the  Great  Mogul. 
Manly  English  forms  took  the  place  of  the  dusky  Hindoos, 
and  bright  English  eyes  shone  where  once  the  beauties  of  the 
Seraglio  "  looked  out  from  the  lattice."  As  we  walked 
through  these  marble  halls  that   had  just  witnessed  these 


THE   CAMP   OF   EXERCISE.  173 

splendid  festivities,  I  could  but  think,  What  would  the  old 
fknatical  Mohammedan  Aarungzebe  have  said,  if  he  could 
have  seen,  less  than  two  hundred  years  after  his  day,  a  Chris- 
tian prince  from  that  distant  island  of  which  he  had  per- 
haps scarcely  heard,  received  in  his  palace,  the  heir  of  a 
power  ten  thousand  miles  away,  that  from  its  seat  on  the 
banks  of  the  Thames  stretches  out  its  hand  across  the  seas 
to  grasp  and  hold  the  vast  empire  of  the  house  of  Tamer- 
lane? 

The  change  has  been  from  darkness  to  light.  If  England 
has  not  done  as  much  for  Delhi  as  the  Great  Mogul  to  give 
it  architectural  beauty,  it  has  done  far  more  for  the  people. 
It  has  given  them  good  government  for  their  protection,  just 
laws  rigidly  enforced  against  the  rich  as  well  as  the  poor,  a 
police  which  preserves  perfect  order ;  and  it  even  cares  for  the 
material  comfort  of  its  subjects,  giving  them  good  roads,  clean 
and  well-lighted  streets,  and  public  gardens  ;  thus  providing 
for  ornament  and  pleasure  as  well  as  for  utility. 

The  Camp  of  Exercise  was  breaking  up  as  we  left  Delhi, 
and  the  troops  were  marching  home.  We  saw  them  filing 
out  of  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  drew  up  by  the  roadside  to 
see  the  gallant  warriors  pass.  Among  them  was  the  corps  of 
Sikh  guides,  or  couriers,  mounted  on  "  swift  dromedaries." 
As  they  were  scattered  along  the  road,  our  guide  asked  some 
of  them  to  show  us  how  they  could  go.  In  an  instant  they 
dashed  their  feet  against  the  sides  of  their  "  coursers,"  and 
set  them  off  at  full  speed.  I  cannot  say  that  they  were  very 
beautiful  objects.  The  camel  with  his  long  strides,  and  with 
the  legs  of  his  rider  outspread  like  the  wings  of  a  bird,  looked 
like  an  enormous  ostrich  flying  at  once  with  legs  and  wings 
in  swift  chase  over  the  desert.  But  certainly  it  was  a  pictur- 
esque sight.  The  infantry  marched  in  column.  The  specta- 
cle was  very  gay,  as  the  morning  sun  shone  on  the  waving 
banners  and  gleaming  bayonets,  and  the  sound  of  their  bugles 
died  away  in  the  distance.     Regiments  had  been  leaving  for 


174       SIE   BAETLE   FEEEE   AND   CANON   DUCKWOETH. 

days,  and  were  scattered  at  intervals  far  to  the  North.  As 
we  travelled  at  night,  we  saw  their  camp-fires  for  a  hundred 
miles.  Indeed  the  whole  country  seemed  to  be  a  camp. 
Once  or  twice  we  came  upon  a  regiment  at  sunset,  just  as 
they  had  pitched  their  tents.  They  had  parked  their  guns, 
and  picketed  their  horses,  and  the  men  were  cooking  their 
evening  meal.  It  was  a  busy  scene  for  an  hour  or  two,  till 
suddenly  all  became  quiet,  and  the  silence  of  night  was  broken 
only  by  the  sentinel's  tramp  and  the  jackal's  cry. 

At  Gazeeabad  we  met  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  the  chief  of  the 
suite  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  Canon  Duckworth,  his 
chaplain,  who  were  going  North  on  the  same  train,  and  found 
them  extremely  courteous.  The  former,  I  think,  must  be  of 
French  descent  from  his  name  (although  his  family  has  been 
settled  in  England  for  generations),  and  from  his  manners, 
which  seemed  to  me  more  French  than  English,  or  rather  to 
have  the  good  qualities  of  both.  When  French  courtesy  is 
united  with  English  sincerity,  it  makes  the  finest  gentleman 
in  the  world.  He  is  an  "  old  Indian,"  having  been  many 
years  in  the  Indian  service,  and  at  one  time  Governor  of 
Bombay.  I  could  but  share  the  wish  (which  I  heard  often 
expressed)  that  in  the  change  which  was  just  taking  place,  he 
were  to  be  the  new  Governor-General  of  India. 

Canon  Duckworth  seemed  to  me  also  a  very  "  manly 
man."  Though  coming  to  India  in  the  train  of  royalty,  he 
is  much  less  interested  in  the  fetes  which  are  setting  the 
country  ablaze,  than  in  studying  missions,  visiting  native 
churches  and  schools  and  orphanages.  Our  American  mis- 
sionaries like  his  bearing,  and  wish  that  he  might  be  appoint- 
ed the  new  Bishop  of  Bombay.  One  fact  should  be  mentioned 
to  his  credit — that  he  is  one  of  the  strongest  temperance  men 
in  England,  carrying  his  principles  and  his  practice  to  the 
point  of  rigid  total  abstinence,  which,  for  one  travelling  in 
such  company,  and  sitting  at  such  entertainments,  shows  a 
firmness  in  resisting  temptation,  greatly  to  his  honor.     It  is 


UMRITZDE.  175 

a  good  sign  when  such  men  are  chosen  to  accompany  the 
future  King  of  England  on  his  visit  to  this  great  dependency, 
over  which  he  is  one  day  to  rule. 

That  night  we  had  our  first  sight  of  the  Himalayas.  Just 
at  evening  we  saw  on  the  horizon  a  fire  spreading  on  the 
Bide  of  a  mountain.  It  was  kindled  by  the  natives,  as  fires 
are  sometimes  lighted  in  our  forests  or  on  our  prairies. 
There  were  the  Himalayas  ! 

We  now  entered  the  most  Northwestern  Province  of  India, 
the  Punjaub,  which  signifies  in  Persian  "  the  land  of  the 
five  streams,"  which  coming  together  like  the  fingers  of  a 
hand,  make  the  Indus.  About  midnight  we  crossed  the 
Sutlej,  which  was  the  limit  of  the  conquests  of  Alexander 
the  Great. 

Morning  brought  us'  to  Umritzur,  the  holy  city  of  the 
Sikhs — a  sect  of  reformed  Hindoos,  who  began  their  "  re- 
forms "  by  rejecting  idolatry,  but  have  found  the  fascination 
of  the  old  worship  too  strong  for  them,  and  have  gradually 
fallen  back  into  their  old  superstitions.  Their  most  holy 
place  is  a  temple  standing  in  the  centre  of  a  large  tank  of 
water,  which  they  call  the  Lake  of  Immortality,  and  with  its 
pure  white  mai-ble,  and  its  roof  made  of  plates  of  copper, 
richly  gilded,  merits  the  title  of  the  Golden  Temple.  This 
is  a  very  holy  place,  and  they  would  not  let  us  even  cross 
the  causeway  to  it  without  taking  off  our  shoes;  and  when 
we  put  on  slippers,  and  shufiled  about,  still  they  followed, 
watching  us  with  sharp  eyes,  lest  by  any  unguarded  step  we 
should  profane  their  sanctuary.  They  are  as  fasatical  as 
Mussulmans,  and  glared  at  us  with  such  fierce  looks  tliat  the 
ladies  of  our  party  were  almost  frightened.  In  the  centre  of 
the  temple  sat  two  priests,  on  raised  mats,  to  whom  the  rest 
were  making  offerings,  while  lialf  a  dozen  musicians  kept  up 
a  hideous  noise,  to  which  the  people  responded  in  a  way  that 
reminded  us  of  the  Howling  Dervishes  of  Constantinople. 

A  pleasant  change  from  this  disgusting  scene  was  a  visit 


176  HOW    CASHMEKE    SHAWLS    AKE   MADE. 

to  the  bazaars,  and  to  the  places  where  Cashmere  shawls  are 
manufactured.  Of  the  latter  I  must  say  that  (as  a  visit  to  a 
dirty  kitchen  does  not  quicken  one's  appetite  for  the  steam- 
ing dinner  that  comes  from  it),  if  our  fine  ladies  could  see 
the  dens  in  which  these  shawls  are  woven,  they  might  not 
wear  them  with  quite  so  much  pride.  They  are  close,  narrow 
rooms,  in  which  twenty  or  thirty  men  are  crowded  together, 
working  almost  without  light  or  air.  The  only  poetical  thing 
about  it  is  that  the  patterns  are  written  out  in  rhyme,  which 
they  read  or  sing  as  they  weave,  and  thus  keep  the  patterns 
so  regular.  But  the  rooms  themselves  seem  like  breeding 
places  for  the  cholera  and  the  plague.  But  out  of  this  filth 
comes  beauty,  as  a  flower  shoots  up  from  the  damp,  black 
soil.  Some  of  the  shawls  were  indeed  exquisite  in  pattern 
and  fabric.  One  was  offered  to  us  for  eight  hundred  rupees 
(four  hundred  dollars),  which  the  dealer  said  had  taken  two 
years  and  a  half  in  its  manufacture  ! 

We  left  Umritzur  at  five  o'clock,  and  in  a  couple  of  hours 
rolled  into  the  station  at  Lahore.  As  the  train  stopped  a 
friendly  voice  called  our  name,  and  we  were  greeted  most 
heartily  by  Dr.  Newton,  the  father  of  the  Mission.  Coolies 
were  waiting  to  carry  our  baggage,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we 
were  in  an  American  home,  sitting  before  a  blazing  fire,  and 
receiving  a  welcome  most  grateful  to  strangers  on  the  other 
side  of  the  world.  Dr.  Newton  is  the  head  of  a  missionary 
family,  his  four  sons  being  engaged  in  the  same  work,  while 
his  only  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  For  man,  another  mis- 
sionary. Very  beautiful  it  was  to  see  how  they  all  gathered 
round  their  father,  so  revered  and  beloved,  happy  to  devote 
their  lives  to  that  form  of  Christian  activity  to  which  he 
had  led  them  both  by  instruction  and  example.  Here  we 
spent  four  happy  days  in  one  of  the  most  pleasant  homes 
in  India. 

Lahore,  like  Delhi,  has  a  historical  interest.  It  was  a 
great  city  a  thousand  years  ago.     In  1241  it  was  taken  and 


LAHORE.  177 

plundered  by  Genghis  Khan  ;  a  century  and  a  half  later  came 
Tamerlane,  who  did  not  spoil  it  only  because  it  was  too  poor 
to  reward  his  rapacity.  But  as  it  recovered  a  little  of  its 
prosperity,  Baber,  in  1524,  plundered  it  and  partially  burnt 
it.  But  again  it  rose  from  its  ashes,  and  became  a  great 
city.  The  period  of  its  glory  was  during  the  time  of  the 
Moguls,  when  it  covered  a  space  eighteen  miles  in  circum- 
ference, and  this  vast  extent  is  stUl  strewn  with  the  ruins  of 
its  former  greatness.  Huge  mounds,  like  those  which  Lay- 
ard  laid  open  at  Nineveh,  cover  the  mighty  wreck  of  former 
cities. 

But  though  the  modem  city  bears  no  comparison  to  the 
ancient,  still  it  has  a  political  and  commercial  importance. 
It  is  the  cajntal  of  the  Punjaub,  and  a  place  of  commerce 
with  Central  Asia.  The  people  are  the  finest  race  we  have 
seen  in  India.  They  are  not  at  all  like  the  effeminate  Ben- 
galees. They  are  the  Highlanders  of  India.  Tall  and  athle- 
tic, they  seem  bom  to  be  warriors.  Their  last  great  ruler, 
old  Runjeet  Sing,  was  himself  a  soldier,  and  knew  how  to 
lead  them  to  victory.  Uniting  policy  with  valor,  he  kept  peace 
with  the  English,  against  whom  his  successors  dashed  them- 
selves and  were  destroyed.  All  readers  of  Indian  history  will 
remember  the  Sikh  war,  and  how  desperate  was*the  struggle 
before  the  Punjaub  was  subdued.  But  English  prowess  con- 
quered at  last,  and  the  very  province  that  had  fought  so 
bravely  became  the  most  loyal  part  of  the  Indian  empire.  It 
was  fortunate  that  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  mutiny  the 
Governor  of  the  Punjaub  was  Sir  John  Lawrence,  who  had 
a  great  ascendancy  over  the  natives,  and  by  his  courage  and 
prompt  measures  he  succeeded  not  only  in  keeping  them 
quiet,  but  in  mustering  here  a  considerable  force  to  restore 
English  authority  in  the  rest  of  India.  The  Punjaubees  took 
part  in  the  siege  of  Delhi.  From  that  day  they  have  been 
the  most  trusted  of  natives  for  their  courage  and  their  fidelity. 
They  are  chosen  for  police  duty  in  the  cities  of  India,  and 


178  THE   FRONTIER   OF   INDIA. 

three  months  later  we  were  much  pleased  to  recognize  our 
old  friends  keeping  guard  and  preserving  order  in  the  streets 
of  Hong  Kong. 

Old  Runjeet  Sing  is  dead — and  well  dead,  as  I  can  tes- 
tify, having  seen  his  tomb,  where  his  four  wives  and  seven 
concubines,  that  were  burnt  on  his  funeral  pile,  are  buried 
with  him.  His  son  too  sleeps  in  a  tomb  near  by,  but  only 
seven  widowed  women  were  sacrificed  for  him,  and  for  a 
grandson  only  four  !  Thus  there  was  a  falling  off  in  the 
glory  of  the  old  suttee,  and  then  the  light  of  these  fires 
went  out  altogether.  These  were  the  last  widows  burnt 
on  the  funeral  pile,  and  to-day  the  old  Lion  of  the  Pun- 
jaub  is  represented  by  his  son  Maharajah  Dhuleep  Sing, 
of  whose  marriage  we  heard  such  a  romantic  story  in  Cairo, 
and  who  now  lives  with  his  Christian  wife  in  Christian  Eng- 
land. 

We  had  now  reached  almost  the  frontier  of  India.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  farther  we  should  have  come  to  Pesh- 
awur,  the  last  military  post,  on  the  border  of  Afghanistan, 
which  no  man  crosses  but  at  the  peril  of  his  life.  We  find 
how  far  North  we  have  come  by  the  race  and  the  language 
of  the  people.  Persian  begins  to  be  mingled  with  Hindos- 
tanee.  In  the  streets  of  Lahore  we  meet  not  only  the 
stalwart  Punjaubees,  but  the  hill  tribes,  that  have  come  out 
of  the  fastnesses  of  the  Himalayas ;  the  men  of  Cabul — Af- 
ghans and  Beloochees — who  have  a  striking  resemblance  to 
the  Circassians,  who  crossed  the  Mediterranean  with  us  on 
their  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  the  long  dresses  of  coarse,  dirty 
flannel,  looking  not  unlike  the  sheepskin  robes  of  the  wild 
mountaineers  of  the  Caucasus. 

One  cannot  be  so  near  the  border  line  of  British  India 
without  having  suggested  the  possibility  of  a  Russian  inva- 
sion, the  fear  of  which  has  been  for  the  last  twenty  years 
(since  the  Mutiny  and  since  the  Crimean  War)  the  bugbear 
of  certain  writers  who  are  justly  jealous  of  the  integrity  of 


KUS8IA   IN    CKNTKAL    ASIA.  179 

the  English  Empii-e  in  the  East.  Russia  has  been  steadily 
pushing  Eastward,  and  establishing  her  outposts  in  Central 
Asia.  These  gradual  advances,  it  is  supposed,  are  all  to  the 
end  of  finally  passing  through  Afghanistan,  and  attacking 
the  English  power  in  India.  The  appearance  of  Russian 
soldiers  in  the  passes  of  the  Hindoo  Koosh,  it  is  taken  for 
granted,  will  be  the  signal  for  a  general  insurrection  in 
India  ;  the  country  will  be  in  a  state  of  revolution ;  and  at 
the  end  of  a  struggle  in  which  Russians  and  Hindoos  will 
fight  together  against  the  English,  the  British  power  will 
have  departed  never  to  return.  Or  even  should  the  Russians 
be  held  back  from  actual  invasion,  their  approach  in  a  threat- 
ening attitude  would  be  such  a  menace  to  the  Indian 
Empire,  as  would  compel  England  to  remain  passive,  while 
Russia  carried  out  her  designs  in  Europe  by  taking  posses- 
sion of  Constantinople. 

This  is  a  terrible  prospect,  and  no  one  can  say  that  it  is 
impossible  that  all  this  should  yet  come'  to  pass.  India  has 
been  invaded  again  and  again  from  the  'time  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  Even  the  mighty  wall  of  the  Himalayas  has  not 
proved  an  effectual  barrier  against  invasion.  Genghis  Khan 
and  Tamerlane,  with  their  Tartar  hordes,  crossed  the  moun- 
tains and  swept  over  the  plains  of  Northern  India.  A  King 
of  Persia  captured  Delhi,  and  put  out  the  eyes  of  the  Great 
Mogul,  and  carried  off  the  Peacock  Throne  of  Aurungzebe. 
What  has  been,  may  be  ;  what  Persia  has  done,  Russia  may 
do. 

But  while  no  one  can  say  that  it  is  impossible,  all  can  see 
that  the  difficulties  are  enormous.  The  distance  to  be  tra- 
versed, the  deserts  and  the  mountains  to  be  crossed,  are  so 
many  obstacles  set  up  by  nature  itself.  An  army  from  the 
Caspian  Sea  must  march  thousands  of  miles  over  great  des- 
erts, where  even  a  small  caravan  can  hardly  subsist,  and  then 
only  by  carrying  both  food  to  eat  and  water  to  drink.  Many 
a  caravan  is  buried  by  the  sands  of  the  desert.     What  then 


180  CAN   EUSSIA   INVADE   INDIA  ? 

must  be  the  difficulty  of  passing  a  whole  army  over  such  a 
distance  and  such  a  desert,  with  food  for  men  and  horses, 
and  carrying  guns  and  all  the  munitions  of  war  !  Five  years 
ago,  Russia  attempted  a  campaign  against  Khiva,  and  sent  oiit 
three  separate  expeditions,  one  of  which  was  forced  to  turn 
back,  not  by  hostile  armies,  but  by  the  natural  obstacles  in 
its  path,  while  the  main  column,  under  Gen.  Kaufman,  came 
very  near  succumbing  to  heat  and  thirst  before  reaching  its 
destination.  But  if  the  deserts  are  crossed,  then  the  army 
is  at  the  foot  of  the  loftiest  mountains  on  the  globe,  in  the 
passes  of  which  it  may  have  to  fight  against  savage  enemies. 
It  is  assumed  that  Russia  will  have  the  support  of  Afghan- 
istan, which  will  give  them  free  access  to  the  country,  and 
aid  them  in  their  march  on  India ;  though  how  a  govern- 
ment and  people,  which  are  fanatically  Mussulman,  should 
aid  Russia,  which  in  Europe  is  the  bitterest  enemy  of  Tur- 
key, the  great  Mohammedan  power,  is  a  point  which  these 
alarmists  seem  not  to  consider. 

But  suppose  all  difficixlties  vanquished — the  deserts  crossed 
and  the  mountains  scaled,  and  the  Russians  descending  the 
passes  of  the  Himalayas — what  an  army  must  they  meet  at 
its  foot !  Not  a  feeble  race,  like  that  which  fled  before  Nadir 
Shah  or  Tamerlane.  With  the  railways  traversing  all  India, 
almost  the  whole  Anglo-Indian  army  could  be  transported  to 
the  Punjaub  in  a  few  days,  and  ready  to  receive  the  in- 
vaders. 

With  these  defences  in  the  country  itself,  add  another 
supreme  fact,  that  England  is  absolute  master  of  the  sea,  and 
that  Russia  has  no  means  of  approach  except  over  the  deserts 
and  the  mountains,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  a  Russian  invasion  render  it  practically  impossible,  at 
least  for  a  long  time  to  come.  What  may  come  to  pass  in 
another  century,  no  man  can  foresee ;  but  of  this  I  feel  well 
assured,  that  there  will  be  no  Russian  invasion  within  the 
lifetime  of  this  generation. 


END  OF  OUK  JOURNEY  NORTH.  181 

"We  had  now  reached  the  limit  of  our  journey  to  the 
North,  though  we  would  have  gladly  gone  farther.  Dr.  New- 
ton had  spent  the  last  summer  in  Cashmere,  and  told  us 
much  of  its  beauty.  We  longed  to  cross  the  mountains,  but 
it  was  too  early  in  the  year.  The  passes  were  still  blocked 
up  with  snow.  It  would  be  months  before  we  could  make 
our  way  over  into  the  Vale  of  Cashmere.  And  so,  though 
we  "  lifted  up  our  eyes  unto  the  hills,"  we  had  to  turn  back 
from  seeing  the  glory  beyond.  Might  we  not  comfort  our- 
selves by  saying  with  Mohammed,  as  he  looked  down  upon 
Damascus,  "  There  is  but  one  Paradise  for  man,  and  I  will 
turn  away  my  eyes  from  this,  lest  I  lose  that  which  is  to 
come." 

And  so  we  turned  away  our  eyes  from  beholding  Paradise. 
But  we  had  seen  enough.  So  we  thought  as  on  Saturday 
evening  we  rode  out  to  the  Shalamir  gardens,  where  an  em- 
peror had  made  a  retreat,  and  laid  out  gardens  with  foun- 
tains, and  every  possible  accompaniment  of  luxury  and  pride. 
All  remains  as  he  left  it,  but  silent  and  deserted.  Emperor 
and  court  are  gone,  and  as  we  walked  through  the  gardens, 
our  own  footfall  on  the  marble  pavement  was  the  only  sound 
that  broke  the  stillness  of  the  place.  But  the  beauty  is  as 
great  as  ever  under  the  clear,  full  moon,  which,  as  we  rode 
back,  recalled  the  lines  of  Scott  on  Melrose ; 

"  And  home  returning,  sooth  declare, 
Was  ever  scene  so  sad  and  fair  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A   WEEK    IN    THE   HIMALAYAS. 

Ever  since  we  landed  in  India  my  chief  desire  has  been  to 
see  the  Himalayas.  I  had  seen  Mont  Blanc,  the  highest 
mountain  in  Europe,  and  now  wished  to  look  upon  the  high- 
est mountains  in  Asia,  or  the  world.  To  reach  them  we  had 
travelled  nearly  fifteen  hundred  miles.  We  had  already  had 
a  distant  view  of  them  at  night,  lighted  up  by  fires  blazing 
along  their  sides ;  but  to  come  into  their  presence  one  must 
leave  the  railway  and  cross  the  coimtry  some  forty  miles. 

We  left  Lahore  Monday  morning,  and  at  noon  were  at 
Lodiana,  a  place  with  sacred  missionary  associations  ;  which 
we  left  at  midnight,  and  in  the  morning  reached  Saharanpur, 
where  also  is  one  of  our  Presbyterian  missions.  Rev.  Mr. 
Calderwood  met  us  at  the  station,  and  made  us  welcome  to 
his  home,  and  sped  us  on  our  way  to  the  Hills. 
'  Saharanpur  is  forty-two  miles  distant  from  Dehra  Doon, 
the  beautiful  valley  which  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas. 
A  mail  wagon  runs  daily,  but  as  it  suited  our  convenience 
better,  we  chartered  a  vehicle  not  unlike  an  omnibus,  and 
which  the  natives,  improving  on  the  English,  call  an  omni- 
hukus.  It  is  a  long  covered  gharri,  that  looks  more  like  a 
prison  van  than  anything  else  to  which  I  can  compare  it, 
and  reminded  me  of  the  Black  Maria  that  halts  before  the 
Tombs  in  New  York  to  convey  prisoners  to  Blackwell's 
Island.  There  are  only  two  seats  running  lengthwise,  as 
they  are  made  to  lie  down  upon  in  case  of  necessity.  Much 
of  the  travelling  is  at  night,  and  "  old  Indians,"  who  are  used 
to  the  ways  of  the  country,  will  spread  their  '*  resais "  and 


FKOM  8AHARANPUK  TO  DEHEA  DOON.      183 

sleep  soundly  over  all  the  joltings  of  the  road.  But  we  could 
sleep  about  as  well  inside  of  a  bass  drum.  So  we  gave  up 
the  idea  of  repose,  and  preferred  to  travel  by  day  to  see  the 
countiy,  for  which  this  sort  of  conveyance  is  very  well  con- 
trived. The  canvas  top  keeps  off  the  sun,  while  the  latticed 
slides  (which  are  regular  green  blinds),  drawn  back,  give  a 
fine  view  of  the  country  as  we  go  rolling  over  the  road.  Our 
charioteer,  excited  by  the  promise  of  a  liberal  backsheesh  if 
he  should  get  us  into  Dehra  Doon  before  nightfall,  drove  at 
full  speed.  Every  five  or  six  miles  the  blast  of  his  horn  told 
those  at  the  next  stage  that  somebody  was  coming,  and  that 
a  relay  of  fresh  horses  must  be  ready.  As  we  approached 
the  hills  he  put  on  an  extra  horse,  and  then  two,  so  that  we 
were  driving  four-in-hand.  Then  as  the  hills  grew  steeper, 
he  took  two  mules,  with  a  horse  in  front  as  a  leader,  mounted 
by  a  postilion,  who,  with  his  white  dress  and  turbaned  head, 
made  a  very  picturesque  appearance.  How  gallantly  he  rode  ! 
He  struck  his  heels  into  the  spirited  little  pony  and  set  him 
into  a  gallop,  which  the  mules  could  but  follow,  and  so  we 
went  tearing  up  hill  and  down  dale  at  a  furious  rate ;  while 
the  coachman  blew  his  horn  louder  still  to  warn  common  folks 
to  get  out  of  the  way,  and  the  natives  drew  to  the  roadside, 
wondering  what  great  man  it  was  who  thus  dashed  by. 

But  horses  and  mules  were  not  enough  to  sustain  such  a 
load  of  dignity,  and  at  the  last  stage  the  driver  took  a  pair 
of  the  beautiful  white  hump-backed  oxen  of  the  country, 
which  drew  us  to  the  top  of  the  pass.  The  hills  which  we 
thus  cross  are  known  as  the  Sewalic  range.  The  top  once 
attained,  two  horses  were  quite  enough  to  take  us  down,  and 
we  descended  rapidly.  And  now  rose  before  us  a  vision  of 
beauty  such  as  we  had  not  seen  in  all  India.  The  vale  of 
Dehra  Doon  is  enclosed  between  two  walls  of  mountains — the 
Sewalic  range  on  one  side,  and  the  first  range  of  the  Hima- 
layas on  the  other.  It  is  fifteen  miles  wide,  and  about  sixty 
miles  long,  extending  from  the  Jumna  to  the  Ganges.     Thus 


184  THE  VALE  OF  DEHRA  BOON. 

it  lies  between  two  mountains  and  two  rivers,  and  has  a  tem- 
perature and  a  moistiire  which  keep  it  in  perpetual  green. 
Nothing  can  be  more  graceful  than  the  tall  feathery  bamboos, 
which  here  grow  to  a  great  height.  Here  are  fine  specimens 
of  the  peepul  tree — the  sacred  tree  of  India,  massive  as  an 
English  oak — and  groves  of  mangoes.  Everything  seems  to 
grow  here — tea,  coffee,  tobacco,  cinnamon,  cloves.  The  ap- 
pearance of  this  rich  valley,  thus  covered  with  groves  and 
gardens,  to  us  coming  from  the  burnt  plains  of  India,  was  like 
that  of  a  garden  of  Paradise.  Hiding  on  through  this  mass 
of  foliage,  we  rattled  into  the  town,  but  were  not  obliged  to 
"find  our  warmest  welcome  at  an  inn."  Rev.  Mr.  Herron 
had  kindly  invited  us  to  accept  his  hospitality,  and  so  we 
inquired  for  "  Herron-sahib,"  and  were  driven  along  a  smooth 
road,  embowered  in  bamboos,  to  the  Missionary  Compound, 
where  a  large  building  has  been  erected  for  a  Female  Semi- 
nary, chiefly  by  the  labors  of  Messrs.  Woodside  and  Herron, 
the  latter  of  whom  is  in  charge  of  the  institution,  one  of  the 
most  complete  in  India.  Here  we  were  most  cordially 
received,  and  found  how  welcome,  in  the  farthest  pai-t  of  the 
world,  is  the  atmosphere  of  an  American  home. 

But  once  in  presence  of  the  great  mountains,  we  were  im- 
patient to  climb  the  first  range,  to  get  a  view  of  the  snows. 
Mr.  Herron  offered  to  keep  us  company.  We  rose  at  four 
the  next  morning,  while  the  stars  were  still  shining,  and  set 
out,  but  could  ride  only  five  miles  in  a  carriage,  when  we 
came  to  the  foot  of  the  hills,  and  were  obliged  to  take  to  the 
saddle.  Our  "syces"  had  led  three  horses  alongside,  which 
we  mounted  just  as  the  starlight  faded,  and  the  gray  light 
of  day  began  to  show  over  the  mountain-tops,  while  our 
attendants,  light  of  foot,  kept  by  our  side  in  case  their  ser- 
vices were  needed. 

And  now  we  begin  the  ascent,  turning  hither  and  thither, 
as  the  road  winds  along  the  sides  of  the  mountain.  The 
slope  of  the  Himalayas  is  not  a  smooth  and  even  one,  rising 


THE  VALK  OF  DEDRA  DOON.  185 

gently  through  an  unbroken  forest.  The  mountain  side  has 
been  torn  by  the  storms  of  thousands  of  years.  In  the 
spring,  when  the  snows  melt  and  the  rains  come,  every  tor- 
rent whose  rocky  bed  is  now  bare,  becomes  a  foaming  flood, 
rushing  down  the  hills,  and  tearing  its  way  through  the  low- 
lands, till  lost  in  the  Jumna  or  the  Ganges.  Thus  the 
mountain  is  broken  into  innumerable  spurs  and  ridges  that 
shoot  out  into  the  valley.  Where  the  scanty  herbage  can 
gather  like  moss  on  the  rocks,  there  is  grazing  for  sheep  and 
goats  and  cattle  ;  and  these  upland  pastures,  like  those  of 
the  Alps  or  the  Tyrol,  are  musical  with  the  tinkling  of  bells. 
High  up  on  the  mountains  they  are  dark  with  pines ;  while 
on  the  inner  ranges  of  the  Himalayas  the  mighty  cedars 
"  shake  like  Lebanon." 

One  can  imagine  how  lovely  must  be  the  Vale  of  Dehra 
Doon,  with  its  mass  of  verdure,  set  in  the  midst  of  such 
rugged  mountains.  Although  we  were  climbing  upward,  we 
could  but  stop,  as  we  came  to  turning  points  in  the  road,  to 
look  back  into  the  valley.  Sometimes  a  projecting  ledge  of 
rock  ofiered  a  fine  point  of  view,  on  which  we  reined  up  our 
horses ;  or  an  old  oak,  bending  its  gnarled  Hmbs  over  us, 
made  a  frame  to  the  picture,  through  which  we  looked  down 
into  the  fairest  of  Indian  vales,  unless  it  be  the  Vale  of 
Cashmere.  From  such  a  point  the  landscape  seemed  to  com- 
bine every  element  of  beauty — plains,  and  woods,  and  streams 
and  mountains.  Across  the  valley  rises  the  long  serrated  ridge 
of  the  Sewalic  range.  "Within  this  space  is  enclosed  a  great 
variety  of  surface — undulating  in  hill  and  valley,  with  green 
meadows,  and  villages,  and  gardens,  while  here  and  there, 
along  the  banks  of  the  streams,  whose  beds  are  now  dry,  are 
belts  of  virgin  forest. 

The  industry  of  the  people,  which  turns  every  foot  of  soil 
to  account,  is  shown  by  the  way  in  which  the  spurs  of  the 
mountains  are  terraced  to  admit  of  cultivation.  Wherever 
there  is  an  acre  of  level  ground,  there  is  a  patch  of  green, 


186  KIDE   TO   THE   HILLS. 

for  the  wheat  fields  are  just  springing  up  ;  and  even  spaces 
of  but  a  few  rods  are  jjlanted  with  potatoes.  Thus  the  sides 
of  the  Himalayas  are  belted  with  lines  of  green,  like  the 
sides  of  the  Alps  as  one  descends  into  Italy.  The  view  is 
especially  beautiful  at  this  morning  hour  as  the  sim  rises, 
causing  the  dews  to  lift  from  the  valley,  while  here  and  there 
a  cuii  of  smoke,  rising  through  the  mist,  marks  the  place  of 
human  habitation. 

But  we  must  prick  up  our  horses,  for  the  sun  is  up,  and 
we  are  not  yet  at  the  top.  It  is  a  good  ride  of  two  hours 
(we  took  three)  to  the  ridge  on  which  are  built  the  two 
"  hill  stations  "  of  Mussoorie  and  Landour — which  are  great 
resorts  of  the  English  during  the  summer  months.  Tliese 
*'  stations "  do  not  deserve  the  name  of  towns ;  they  are 
merely  straggling  Alpine  villages.  Indeed  nowhere  in  the 
Alps  is  there  such  a  cluster  of  houses  at  such  a  height,  or 
in  such  a  spot.  There  is  no  "  site  "  for  a  regular  village,  no 
place  for  a  "  main  street."  One  might  as  well  think  of 
*'  laying  out "  a  village  along  the  spine  of  a  sharp-backed 
whale,  as  on  this  narrow  mountain  ridge.  There  is  hardly  an 
acre  of  level  ground,  only  the  jagged  ends  of  hills,  or  points 
of  rocks,  from  which  the  torrents  have  swept  away  the  earth 
on  either  side,  leaving  only  the  bare  surface.  Yet  on  these 
points  and  edges — wherever  there  is  a  shelf  of  rock  to  fur- 
nish a  foundation,  the  English  have  built  their  pretty  bunga- 
lows, which  thus  perched  in  air,  7,500  feet  high,  look  like 
mountain  eyries,  and  might  be  the  home  of  the  eagles  that 
we  see  sailing  over  the  valley  below.  From  such  a  height 
do  they  look  over  the  very  top  of  the  Sewalic  range  to  the 
great  plains  of  India. 

But  we  did  not  stop  afc  this  mountain  to  look  back. 
Dashing  through  the  little  straggling  bazaar  of  Landour,  we 
spurred  on  to  the  highest  point,  "  Lai  Tiba " ;  from  which 
w^e  hoped  for  the  great  view  of  "  the  snows."  We  reached 
the  spot  at   nine  o'clock,  but  as  yet  we  saw  "  only  in  part." 


MOUNTAINS   COVERED   WITH    CLOUDS.  187 

Our  final  vision  was  to  come  three  days  later.  Away  to  the 
North  and  East  the  horizon  was  filled  with  mountains,  whose 
summits  the  foot  of  man  had  never  trod,  but  the  intervening 
distance  was  covered  with  clouds,  out  of  which  rose  the 
snowy  domes,  like  islands  in  a  sea. 

My  first  impression  of  the  Himalayas  was  one  of  disap- 
pointment, partly  because  we  "  could  not  come  nigh  unto  " 
them.  We  saw  their  summits,  but  at  such  a  distance  that 
they  did  not  look  so  high  as  Mont  Blanc,  where  we  could 
come  "even  to  his  feet  "  in  the  Yale  of  Chamouni.  But  the 
Himalayas  were  seventy  miles  off,*  filling  the  whole  horizon. 
Nor  did  they  rise  up  in  one  mighty  chain,  like  the  Cordilleras 
of  Mexico,  standing  like  a  wall  of  rock  and  snow  against  the 
sky ;  but  seemed  rather  a  sea  of  mountains,  boundless  and 
billowy,  rising  range  on  range,  one  overtopping  the  other, 
and  rolling  away  to  the  heart  of  Asia ;  or,  to  change  the 
figure,  the  mountains  appeared  as  an  ice  continent,  like  that 
of  the  Polar  regions,  tossed  up  here  and  there  into  higher 
and  still  higher  summits,  but  around  which,  stretching  away 
to  infinity,  was  the  wild  and  interminable  sea. 

Thus  the  view,  though  different  from  what  I  expected, 
was  very  grand,  and  though  we  had  not  yet  the  full,  clear 
vision,  yet  the  sight  was  sublime  and  awful,  perhaps  even 
more  so  from  the  partial  obscurity,  as  great  clouds  came 
rolling  along  the  snowy  heights,  as  if  the  heavenly  host  up- 
rose at  the  coming  of  the  day,  and  were  moving  rank  on 
rank  along  the  shining  battlements. 

"We  had  hoped  by  waiting  a  few  hours  to  get  an  unob- 
structed view,  but  the  clouds  seemed  to  gather  i-ather  than 
disperse,  warning  .us  to  hasten  our  descent. 

*  This  is  given  as  an  average  distance  in  an  air  line.  The  nearest 
peak,  Boonderpnnch  (Monkey's  Tail),  is  forty-five  miles  as  the  crow 
flies,  though  by  the  nearest  accessible  route,  it  is  a  hundred  and 
forty  !  Nunda  Davee  is  a  hundred  and  ten  in  an  air  line,  but  by  the 
paths  over  the  mountains,  must  be  over  two  hundred. 


188  A  hunter's  house. 

In  going  up  the  mountain,  C had  kept  along  with  us 

on  horseback,  but  the  long  ride  to  one  not  used  to  the  saddle 
had  fatigued  her  so  that  on  the  return  she  was  glad  to  accept 
Mr.  Herron's  offer  of  a  dandi,  a  chair  borne  by  two  men, 
which  two  others  accompanied  as  relays,  while  we,  mounted 
as  before,  followed  as  outriders.  Thus  mustering  our  little 
force,  we  began  to  descend  the  mountain. 

A  mile  or  so  from  the  top  we  turned  aside  at  the  house  of 
a  gentleman  who  was  a  famous  hunter,  and  who  had  a  large 
collection  of  living  birds,  pheasants  and  manauls,  while  the 
veranda  was  covered  with  tiger  and  leopard  skins.  He  was 
absentj  but  his  wife  (who  has  the  spirit  and  courage  of  a 
huntress,  and  had  often  brought  down  a  deer  with  her  own 
hand)  was  there,  and  bade  us  welcome.  She  showed  us  her 
birds,  both  living  and  stuffed,  the  number  of  which  made 
her  house  look  like  an  ornithological  museum.  To  our  inquiry 
she  said,  "  The  woods  were  full  of  game.  Two  deer  had  been 
shot  the  evening  before." 

We  asked  about  higher  game.  She  said  that  tigers  were 
not  common  up  on  the  mountain  as  in  the  valley.  She  had 
two  enormous  skins,  but  "  the  brutes  "  her  husband  had  shot 
over  in  Nepaul.  But  leopards  seemed  to  be  her  special  pets. 
When  I  asked,  "  Have  you  many  leopards  about  here  ?  "  she 
laughed  as  she  answered,  "  I  should  think  so."  She  often 
saw  them  just  across  a  ravine  a  few  rods  in  front  of  her 
house,  chasing  goats  or  sheep.  "  It  was  great  fun."  Of 
late  they  had  become  rather  troublesome  in  killing  dogs. 
And  so  they  had  been  obliged  to  set  traps  for  them.  They 
framed  a  kind  of  cage,  with  two  compartments,  in  one  of 
which  they  tied  a  dog,  whose  yelpings  at  ij^ight  attracted  the 
leopard,  who,  creeping  round  and  round,  to  get  at  his  prey, 
at  length  dashed  in  to  seize  the  poor  creature,  but  found  bars 
between  them,  while  the  trap  closed  upon  him,  and  Mr.  Leo- 
pard was  a  prisoner.  In  this  way  they  had  caught  four  the 
last  Slimmer.      Then  this  Highland  lady  came  out  from  her 


A   THUNDERSTORM.  189 

cottage,  and  with  a  rifle  put  an  end  to  the  leopard's  career  in 
devouring  dogs.  The  number  of  skins  on  the  veranda  told 
of  their  skill  and  success. 

Pursuing  my  inquiry  into  the  character  of  her  neighbors, 
I  asked,  "  Have  you  any  snakes  about  here  ?  "  "  Oh  no," 
she  replied  carelessly  ;  "  that  is  to  say  not  many.  The 
cobras  do  not  come  up  so  high  on  the  mountain.  But  there 
is  a  serpent  in  the  woods,  a  kind  of  python,  but  he  is  a 
large,  lazy  creature,  that  doesn't  do  any  mischief.  One  day 
that  my  husband  was  out  with  his  gun,  he  shot  one  that  was 
eighteen  feet  long.  It  was  as  big  around  as  a  log  of  wood, 
so  that  when  I  came  up  I  sat  down  and  took  my  tiffin  upon 
it." 

While  listening  to  these  tales,  the  clouds  had  been  gather- 
ing, and  now  they  were  piled  in  dark  masses  all  around  the 
horizon.  The  lightning  flashed,  and  we  could  hear  the 
heavy  though  distant  peals  of  thunder.  Presently  the  big 
drops  began  to  fall.  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  We 
could  see  that  the  rain  was  pouring  in  the  valley,  while 
heavy  peals  came  nearer  and  nearer,  reverberating  in  the 
hollows  of  the  mountains.  It  was  a  grand  spectacle  of 
Nature,  that  of  a  storm  in  the  Himalayas.  Thunder  in  front 
of  us,  thunder  to  the  right  of  us,  thunder  to  the  left  of  us  !  I 
never  had  a  more  exciting  ride,  except  one  like  it  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  four  years  before.  At  our  urgent  request, 
Mr.  Herron  spurred  ahead,  and  galloped  at  full  speed  down 

the  mountain.    I  came  more  slowly  with  C in  the  dandi. 

But  we  did  not  lose  time,  and  after  an  hour's  chase,  in  which 
we  seemed  to  be  running  the  gauntlet  of  the  storm,  "  dodg- 
ing the  rain,"  we  were  not  a  little  relieved,  just  as  the 
scattered  drops  began  to  fall  thicker  and  faster,  to  come  into 
the  yard  of  the  hotel  at  Rajpore. 

The  brave  fellows  who  had  brought  the  dandi  deserved  a 
reward,  although  Mr.  Herron  said  they  were  his  servants.  I 
-wanted  to  give  them  a  rupee  each,  but  he  would  not  hear  of 


190  TIGEE8    IN    THE    VALLEY. 

it,  and  when  I  insisted  on  giving  at  least  a  couple  of  rupees 
for  the  four,  which  would  be  twenty -five  cents  a  piece,  the 
poor  fellows  were  so  overcome  with  my  generosity  that  they 
bowed  almost  to  the  ground  in  acknowledgment,  and  went 
oflF  hugging  each  other  with  delight  at  the  small  fortune 
which  had  fallen  to  them. 

At  Kajpore  the  carriage  was  waiting  for  us,  and  under  its 
cover  from  the  rain,  we  rode  back,  talking  of  the  incidents 
of  the  day  ;  and  when  we  got  home  and  stretched  ourselves 
before  the  blazing  fire,  the  subject  was  renewed,  I  have  a 
boy's  fondness  for  stories  of  wild  beasts,  and  listened  with 
eager  interest  to  all  my  host  had  to  tell.  It  was  hard  to 
realize  that  there  were  such  creatures  in  such  a  lovely  spot. 
"  Do  you  really  mean  to  say,"  I  asked,  "  that  there  are 
tigers  here  in  this  valley  ?  "  "  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  within 
five  miles  of  where  you  are  sitting  now,"  He  had  seen  one 
himself,  and  showed  us  the  very  spot  that  morning  as  we 
rode  out  to  the  hills,  when  he  pointed  to  a  ravine  by  the 
roadside,  and  said  :  "  As  I  was  riding  along  this  road  one 
day  with  a  lady,  a  magnificent  Bengal  tiger  came  up  out  of 
that  ravine,  a  few  rods  in  front  of  us,  and  walked  slowly 
across  the  road.  He  turned  to  look  at  us,  and  we  were 
greatly  relieved  when,  after  taking  a  cool  survey,  he  moved 
off  into  the  jungle." 

But  leopards  are  still  more  common  and  familiar.  They 
have  been  in  this  very  dooryard,  and  on  this  veranda.  One 
summer  evening  two  years  ago,  said  Miss  P.,  I  was  sitting  on 
the  gravelled  walk  to  enjoy  the  cool  air,  when  an  enormous 
creature  brushed  past  but  a  step  in  front  between  us  and  the 
house.  At  first  we  thought  in  the  gloaming  it  might  be  a 
dog  of  very  unusual  size,  but  as  it  glided  past,  and  came  into 
the  light  of  some  cottages  beyond,  we  perceived  that  it  was  a 
very  different  beast.  At  another  time  a  leopard  crossed  the 
veranda  at  night,  and  brushed  over  the  face  of  a  native  woman 
sleeping  with  her  child  in  her  arms.     It  was  well  the  beast 


SECOND    ASCENT.  191 

/was  not  hungry,  or  he  would  have  snatched  the  child,  as  they 
often  do  when  playing  in  front  of  native  houses,  and  carried 
it  off  into  the  jungle. 

But  we  will  rest  to-night  in  sweet  security  in  this  mission- 
ary home,  without  fear  of  wild  beasts  or  thunder  storms.  The 
clouds  broke  away  at  sunset,  leaving  a  rich  "  after-glow  "  up- 
on the  mountains.  It  was  the  clear  shining  after  the  rain. 
Just  then  I  heard  the  voices  of  the  native  children  in  the 
chapel,  singing  their  hymns,  and  with  these  sweet  suggestions 
of  home  and  heaven,  "  I  will  lay  me  down  in  peace  and  sleep, 
for  thou  Lord  only  makest  me  dwell  in  safety." 

We  had  had  a  glimpse  of  the  Himalayas,  but  the  glimpse 
only  made  us  eager  to  get  the  full  "  beatific  vision  "  :  so,  after 
resting  a  day,  we  determined  to  try  again,  going  up  in  the 
afternoon,  and  spending  the  night,  so  as  to  have  a  double 
chance  of  seeing  the  snows — both  at  sunset  and  at  sunrise. 
This  time  we  had  also  the  company  of  Mr.  Woodside,  beside 
whom  I  rode  on  horseback ;  while  Mr.  Herron  gave  his  escort 

to  C ,  who  was  "  promoted  "  from  a  dandi  to  a  jahnpaUy 

which  differs  from  the  former  only  in  that  it  is  more  spacious, 
and  is  carried  by  four  bearers  instead  of  two.  Thus  mount- 
ed she  was  borne  aloft  on  men's  shoulders.  She  said  the 
motion  was  not  unpleasant,  except  that  the  men  had  a  habit, 
when  they  came  to  some  dangerous  point,  turning  a  rock,  or 
on  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  of  changing  bearers,  or  swinging 
round  the  bamboo  pole  from  one  shoulder  to  another,  which 
made  her  a  little  giddy,  as  she  was  tossed  about  at  such  a 
height,  from  which  she  could  look  down  a  gorge  hundreds  of 
feet  deep.  However,  she  takes  all  dangers  very  lightly,  and 
was  enraptured  with  the  wildness  and  strangeness  of  the 
scene — to  find  herself,  an  American  girl,  thus  being  ti-ans- 
ported  over  the  mountains  of  Asia. 

So  we  took  up  our  line  of  march  for  the  hills,  and  soon 
found  our  pulses  beating  fcister.     "Why  is  it  that  we  feel  such 


192  HISTOKICAX,   ASSOCIATIONS. 

exhilaration  in  climbing  mountains?  Is  it  something  in  the 
air,  that  quickens  the  blood,  and  reacts  upon  the  brain  ?  Or 
is  it  the  sensation  of  rising  into  a  higher  atmosphere,  of  "  go- 
ing up  into  heaven  ?  "  So  it  seemed  that  afternoon,  as  we 
"  left  the  earth  "  behind  us,  and  went  up  steadily  into  the 
clouds. 

I  found  that  the  Himalayas  grew  upon  acquaintance.  They 
looked  more  grand  the  second  time  than  the  first.  The  land- 
scape was  changed  by  the  westering  sun,  which  cast  new 
lights  and  shadows  across  the  valley,  and  into  the  wooded 
bosom  of  the  hills.  To  these  natural  beauties  my  companion 
added  the  charm  of  historical  associations.  Few  places  in 
India  have  more  interest  to  the  scholar.  The  Sewalic  range 
was  almost  the  cradle  of  the  Brahminical  religion.  Sewalic, 
or  Sivalic,  as  it  might  be  written,  means  literally  the  hills 
of  Shiva,  or  the  hills  of  the  gods,  where  their  worshippers 
built  their  shrines  and  worshipped  long  before  Christ  was 
born  in  Bethlehem.  The  same  ridge  is  a  mine  to  the  natural- 
ist. It  is  full  of  fossils,  the  bones  of  animals  that  belonged 
to  some  earlier  geological  epoch.  The  valley  has  had  a  part 
in  the  recent  histoiy  of  India.  Here  the  Goorkas — one  of 
the  hill  tribes,  which  stood  out  longest  against  the  English — 
fought  their  last  battle.  It  was  on  yonder  wooded  height 
which  juts  out  like  a  promontory  into  the  plain,  where  the 
ruin  of  an  old  fort  marks  the  destruction  of  their  power.  To- 
day the  Goorkas,  like  the  Punjaubees,  are  among  the  most 
loyal  defenders  of  English  rule. 

At  present  the  attraction  of  this  valley  for  "  old  Indians  " 
is  not  so  much  in  its  historical  or  scientific  associations,  as 
the  field  which  it  gives  to  the  hunter.  This  belt  of  country, 
running  about  a  hundred  miles  along  the  foot  of  the  Him- 
alayas, is  composed  of  forest  and  jungle,  and  is  a  favorite 
habitat  of  wild  beasts — tigers  and  leopards  and  wild  ele- 
phants. It  was  in  this  belt,  called  the  Terai,  though  further 
to  the  East,  in  Nepaul,  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  a  few 


WILD   ELEPHANTS.  193 

weeks  later  made  his  grSat  tiger-hunting  expedition.  He 
might  perhaps  have  found  as  good  sport  in  the  valley  right 
under  our  eyes.  "  Do  you  see  that  strip  of  woods  yonder?  " 
said  Mr.  Woodside,  pointing  to  one  four  or  five  miles  dis- 
tant. "  That  is  full  of  wild  elephants."  An  Indian  Rajah 
came  here  a  year  or  two  since  for  a  grand  himt,  and  in  two 
days  captured  twenty-four.  This  is  done  by  the  help  of  tame 
elephants  who  are  trained  for  the  purpose.  A  large  tract  of 
forest  is  enclosed,  and  then  by  beating  the  woods,  the  herd 
is  driven  towards  a  corner,  and  when  once  penned,  the  tame 
elephants  go  in  among  them,  and  by  tender  caressing  engage 
their  attention,  till  the  coolies  slip  under  the  huge  beasts 
and  tie  their  feet  with  ropes  to  the  trees.  This  done,  they 
can  be  left  till  subdued  by  hunger,  when  they  are  easily  tamed 
for  the  service  of  man. 

These  creatures  still  have  the  range  of  the  forests.  In 
riding  through  the  woods  one  may  often  hear  the  breaking 
of  trees,  as  wild  elephants  crash  through  the  dense  thicket. 
I  had  supposed  that  all  kinds  of  wild  beasts  were  very  much 
reduced  in  India  under  English  rule.  The  hunters  say  they 
are  so  much  so  as  to  destroy  the  sport.  But  my  companion 
thinks  not,  for  two  reasons ;  the  government  has  made 
stringent  laws  against  the  destruction  of  forests ;  and  since 
the  mutiny  the  natives  are  not  allowed  to  carry  fire-arms. 

We  might  have  startled  a  leopard  anywhere  on  the  moun- 
tain side.  A  young  Scotchman  whom  we  met  with  his  rifle 
on  his  shoulder,  said  he  had  shot  two  a  fortnight  ago, 
but  that  there  was  a  veiy  big  one  about,  which  he  had  seen 
several  times,  but  could  never  get  a  shot  at,  but  he  hoped  to 
bring  him  down  before  long. 

With  such  chat  as  this  we  trotted  up  the  mountain  road, 
till  we  came  to  where  it  divides,  where,  leaving  Mr.  Herron 

and  C to  go  on  straight  to  Landour,  we  turned  to  the 

left  to  make  a  flying  visit  to  the  other  hill  station  of  Mus- 
soorie.  As  we  rode  along,  Mr.  Woodside  pointed  out  to  me 
9 


194         ADVENTCKES  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

the  spot  where,  a  few  weeks  before,  his  horse  had  backed  off 
a  precipice,  and  been  dashed  to  pieces.  Fortunately  he  was 
not  on  his  back  (he  had  alighted  to  make  a  call),  or  the 
horse  and  his  rider  might  have  gone  over  together.  As  we 
wound  up  the  road  he  recalled  another  incident,  which 
occurred  several  years  ago :  "  I  had  been  to  attend  an 
evening  reception  at  the  Young  Ladies'  school  (which  we 
had  just  left),  and  about  eleven  o'clock  mounted  to  ride 
home.  I  had  a  white  horse,  and  it  was  a  bright  moonlight 
night,  and  as  I  rode  up  the  hill,  just  as  I  turned  a  corner  in 
the  road  there  (pointing  to  the  spot)  I  saw  a  huge  leopard 
crouching  in  the  attitude  of  preparing  to  spring.  I  rose  up 
in  the  saddle  (my  friend  is  a  man  of  giant  stature)  and 
shouted  at  the  top  of  my  voice,  and  the  beast,  not  knowing 
what  strange  monster  he  had  encountered,  leaped  over  the 
bank  and  disappeared," 

"  The  next  day,"  he  added,  "  I  was  telling  the  story  to  a  gen- 
tleman, who  replied,  '  You  were  vei-y  fortunate  to  escape  so,' 
and  then  related  an  incident  of  his  own,  in  which  a  leopard 
sjjrang  upon  his  horse,  which  the  fright  caused  to  give  such 
a  bound  that  the  brute  fell  oif,  and  the  horse  starting  at 
full  speed,  they  escaped.  But  he  felt  that  the  escape  was  so 
providential  that  he  had  thanks  returned  in  the  chtirch  the 
next  Sabbath  for  his  deliverance  from  a  sudden  death." 

Thus  listening  to  my  companion's  adventures,  we  rode 
along  the  ridge  of  Mussoorie  to  its  highest  point,  which  com- 
mands a  grand  view  of  the  Snowy  E,ange.  Here  stands  a 
convent,  which  educates  hundreds  of  the  daughters  of  Prot- 
estant Englishmen,  as  well  as  those  of  its  own  faith.  Thus 
the  Catholic  Church  plants  its  outposts  on  the  very  crests  of 
the  mountains.        ' 

At  Landour  is  another  Catholic  institution  (for  boys) 
called  St.  George's  College,  perhaps  as  a  delicate  flattery  to 
Englishmen  in  taking  the  name  of  their  guardian  saint.  It 
lias  a  chime  of  bells,  which  at  that   height  and  that  hour 


KroE   TO   LANDOUE.  195 

strikes  the  ear  with  singular  and  touching  effect.  It  may 
well  stir  up  our  Protestant  friends,  both  to  admire  and  to 
imitate,  as  it  furnishes  a  new  proof  of  the  omnipresence  of 
Rome,  when  the  traveller  finds  its  convents,  and  hears  the 
chime  of  its  vesper  bells,  on  the  heights  and  amid  the  valleys 
of  the  Himalayas. 

But  the  sun  was  sinking,  and  it  was  four  miles  from  Mus- 
soorie  to  Landour,  where  we  were  to  make  our  second 
attempt  to  see  the  snows.  Turning  our  horses,  we  rode  at 
full  speed  along  the  ridge  of  the  mountain,  and  reached  the 
top  of  Lai  Tiba  before  sunset,  but  only  to  be  again  dis- 
appointed. Northward  and  eastward  the  clouds  hung  iipon 
the  great  mountains.  But  if  one  part  of  the  horizon  was 
hidden,  on  the  other  we  looked  over  the  top  of  the  Sewalic 
range,  to  where  the  red  and  fiery  sun  was  sinking  in  a  bank 
of  cloud — not  "  clouds  full  of  rain,"  but  merely  clouds  of 
dust,  rolling  upward  "  like  the  smoke  of  a  furnace  "  from  the 
hot  plains  of  India.  In  the  foreground  was  the  soft,  green 
valley  of  Dehra  Doon,  more  beautiful  from  the  contrast  with 
the  burning  plains  beyond.  It  was  a  peaceful  landscape,  as 
the  shadows  of  evening  were  gathering  over  it.  From  this 
we  turned  to  watch  the  light  as  it  crept  up  the  sides  of  the 
mountains.  Tlie  panorama  was  constantly  changing,  and 
every  instant  took  on  some  new  feature  of  grandeur.  As 
daylight  faded,  another  light  flashed  out  behind  us,  for  the 
mountains  were  on  fire.  It  is  a  custom  of  the  people,  who 
are  herdsmen,  to  burn  off  the  low  brush  (as  the  Indians 
burned  over  the  prairies),  that  the  grass  may  spring  up  fresh 
and  green  for  their  flocks  and  cattle ;  and  it  was  a  fearful 
spectacle,  that  of  these  gi-eat  belts  of  fire  running  along  the 
mountain  side,  and  lighting  up  the  black  gorges  below. 

Giving  our  horaes  to  the  giiides  to  be  led  down  the  decliv- 
ity, we  walked  down  a  narrow  path  in  the  rocks  that  led  to 
Woodstock,  a  female  seminary,  built  on  a  kind  of  terrace 
half  a  mile  below — a  most  picturesque  spot  (none  the  less 


196  SIGHT   OF   THE   SNOWS   AT   LAST. 

romantic  because  a  tiger  had  once  carried  off  a  man  from  tlie 
foot  of  the  ravine  a  few  rods  below  the  house),  and  there, 
around  a  cheerful  table,  and  before  a  roaring  fire,  forgot  the 
fatigues  of  the  day,  and  hoped  for  sunshine  on  the  morrow. 

It  was  not  yet  daylight  when  we  awoke.  The  stars  were 
shining  when  we  came  out  on  the  terrace,  and  the  waning 
moon  still  hung  its  crescent  overhead.  A  faint  light  began 
to  glimmer  in  the  east.  We  were  quickly  muffled  up  (for  it 
was  cold)  and  climbing  up  the  steep  path  to  Lai  Tiba,  hoping 
yet  trembling.  I  was  soon  out  of  breath,  and  had  more  than 
once  to  sit  down  on  the  rocks  to  recover  myself.  But  in  a 
moment  I  would  rise  and  rush  on  again,  so  eager  was  I  with 
hope,  and  yet  so  fearful  of  disappointment.  One  more  pull 
and  we  were  on  the  top,  and  behold  the  glory  of  God  spread 
abroad  upon  the  mountains  !  Our  perseverance  was  rewarded 
at  last.  There  were  the  Himalayas — the  great  mountains  of 
India,  of  Asia,  of  the  globe.  The  snowy  range  was  in  full 
view  for  more  than  a  hundred  miles.  The  sun  had  not  yet 
risen,  but  his  golden  limb  now  touched  the  east,  and  as  the 
great  round  orb  rose  above  the  horizon,  it  seemed  as  if  God 
himself  were  coming  to  illumine  the  universe  which  he  had 
created.  One  after  another  the  distant  peaks  caught  the  light 
upon  their  fields  of  snow,  and  sent  it  back  as  if  they  were 
the  shining  gates  of  the  heavenly  city.  One  could  almost 
look  up  to  them  as  Divine  intelligences,  and  address  them  in 
the  lines  of  the  old  hymn  : 

These  glorious  minds,  how  bright  they  shine, 

Whence  all  their  white  array  ? 
How  came  they  to  the  happy  seats 

Of  everlasting  day  ? 

But  restraining  our  enthusiasm  for  the  moment,  let  us  look 
at  the  configuration  of  this  Snowy  Range,  simply  as  a  study  in 
geography.  We  are  in  pi*esence  of  the  highest  mountains  on 
the  globe.     We  are  on  the  border  of  that  table-laud  of  Asia 


"the  roof  of  the  would/'  197 

("  High  Asia  ")  whicli  the  Arabs  in  theii*  poetical  language 
call  "  The  Roof  of  the  World."  Yonder  pass  leads  over  into 
Thibet,  The  trend  of  the  mountains  is  from  southeast  to 
northwest,  almost  belting  the  continent.  Indeed,  physical 
geographers  trace  it  much  farther,  following  it  down  on  one 
hand  through  the  Malayan  Peninsula  and  on  the  other  run- 
ning it  through  the  Hindoo  Koosh  (or  Caucasus)  northwest 
to  Mt.  Ararat  in  Armenia ;  and  across  into  Europe,  through 
Turkey  and  Greece,  to  the  Alps  and  the  Pyrenees,  forming 
what  the  Arabs  call  "  The  Stony  Girdle  of  the  Eai-th."  But 
the  centre  of  that  girdle,  the  clasp  of  that  mighty  zone,  is  here. 

It  is  difficult  to  form  an  idea  of  the  altitude  of  mountains, 
when  we  have  no  basis  of  comparison  in  those  which  are  fa- 
miliar. But  nature  here  is  on  another  scale  than  we  have 
seen  it  before.  In  Europe  Mont  Blanc  is  "  the  monarch  of 
mountains,"  but  yonder  peak,  Nunda  Davee,  which  shows 
above  the  horizon  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  and  ten  miles, 
is  25,600  feet  high — that  is,  nearly  two  miles  higher  than 
Mont  Blanc  !  There  are  others  still  higher — Kanchinganga 
and  Dwalaghiri — but  they  are  not  in  sight,  as  they  are 
farther  east  in  Kepaul.  But  from  Dai-jeeling,  a  hill  station 
much  frequented  in  the  summer  months  by  residents  of  Cal- 
cutta, one  may  get  an  unobstructed  view  of  Mount  Everest, 
29,000  feet  high,  the  loftiest  summit  on  the  globe.  And  here 
before  us  are  a  number  of  peaks,  twenty-two,  twenty-three, 
and  twenty-four  thousand  feet  high — higher  than  Chimborazo, 
or  any  peak  of  the  Andes. 

Perhaps  the  Himalayas  are  less  impressive  than  the  Alps 
in  proportion,  because  the  snow  line  is  so  much  higher.  In 
Switzerland  we  reach  the  line  of  perpetual  snow  at  8,900 
feet,  so  that  the  Jungfrau,  which  is  less  than  14,000  feet, 
has  a  full  mile  of  snow  covering  her  virgin  breast.  But  here 
the  traveller  must  ascend  18,000  feet,  nearly  two  miles  higher, 
before  he  comes  to  the  line  of  perpetual  snow.  It  is  consid- 
ered a  great  achievement  of  the  most  daring  Alpine  climbers 


198        THE   HIMALAYAS   COMFARED   WITH   THE   ALPS. 

to  reach  the  top  of  the  Jungfrau  or  the  Mattei-hoi-n,  but  here 
many  of  the  j^asses  are  higher  tlian  the  summit  of  either. 
Dr.  Bellew,  who  accompanied  the  expedition  of  Sir  Douglas 
Forsyth  three  years  since  to  Yarkund  and  Kasbgar,  told  me 
they  crossed  passes  19,000  feet  Mgh,  nearly  4,000  feet  higher 
than  Mont  Blanc.  He  said  they  did  not  need  a  guide,  for 
that  the  path  was  marked  by  bones  of  men  and  beasts  that 
had  perished  by  the  way ;  the  bodies  lying  where  they  fell, 
for  no  beast  or  bird  lives  at  that  far  height,  neither  vulture 
nor  jackal,  while  the  intense  cold  preserved  the  bodies  from 
decay. 

But  the  Himalayas  are  not  all  heights,  but  heights  and 
depths.  The  mountains  are  divided  by  valleys.  From 
where  we  stand  the  eye  sweeps  over  the  tops  of  nine  or  ten 
separate  ranges,  with  valleys  between,  in  which  are  scattered 
hundreds  of  villages.  The  enterprising  traveller  may  descend 
into  these  deep  places  of  the  earth,  and  make  his  toilsome 
way  over  one  range  after  another,  till  he  reaches  the  snows. 
But  he  will  find  it  a  fourteen  days'  march.  My  companion 
had  once  spent  six  weeks  in  a  missionary  tour  among  these 
villages. 

Wilson,  the  author  of  "  The  Abode  of  Snow,"  *  who  spent 
months  in  travelling  through  the  Inner  Himalayas,  from 
Thibet  to  Cashmere,  makes  a  comparison  of  these  mountains 
with  the  Alps.  There  are  some  advantages  to  be  claimed  for 
the  latter.  Not  only  are  they  more  accessible,  but  combine 
in  a  smaller  space  more  variety.  Their  sides  are  more  gener- 
ally clothed  with  forests,  which  are  mirrored  in  those  beauti- 
ful sheets  of  water  that  give  such  a  charm  both  to  Swiss  and 

*  A  very  fascinating  book,  especially  to  Alpine  tourists,  or  those 
fond  of  climbing"  mountains.  The  title,  "  The  Abode  of  Snow,"  is  a 
translation  of  the  word  Himalaya.  The  writer  is  a  son  of  the  late 
Dr.  Wilson,  of  Bombay.  Taking  a  new  field,  he  has  produced  a 
story  of  travel  and  adventure,  which  will  be  apt  to  tempt  others  to 
follow  him. 


THE   HINDOO   KYLAS.  199 

Scottish  scenery.  But  in  the  Himalayas  there  is  hardly  a 
lake  to  be  seen  until  one  enters  the  Vale  of  Cashmere.  Then 
the  Alps  have  more  of  the  human  element,  in  the  picturesque 
Swiss  villages.  The  traveller  looks  down  from  snow-covered 
mountains  into  valleys  with  meadows  and  houses  and  the 
spires  of  churches.  But  in  the  Himalayas  there  is  not  a  sign 
of  civilization,  and  hardly  of  habitation.  Occasionally  a  vil- 
lage or  a  Buddhist  monastery  may  stand  out  picturesquely 
on  the  top  of  a  hill,  but  generally  the  mountains  are  given 
up  to  utter  desolation. 

"  But,"  says  Wilson,  "when  all  these  admissions  in  favor  of  Swit- 
zerland are  made,  the  Himalayas  still  remain  unsurpassed,  and  even 
unapproached,  as  regards  all  the  wilder  and  grander  features  of 
mountain  scenery.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Alps  which  can  afford 
even  a  faint  idea  of  the  savage  desolation  and  appalling  sublimity  of 
many  of  the  Himalayan  scenes.  Nowhere  have  the  faces  of  the 
rocks  been  so  scarred  and  riven  by  the  nightly  action  of  frost  and 
the  midday  floods  from  melting  snow.  In  almost  every  valley  we 
see  places  where  whole  peaks  or  sides  of  great  mountains  have  very 
recentiy  come  shattering  down." 

This  constant  action  of  the  elements  sometimes  carves  the 
sides  of  the  mountains  into  castellated  forms,  like  the  canons 
of  the  Yellowstone  and  the  Colorado  : 

"Gigantic  moral  precipices,  bastions,  towers,  castles,  citadels, 
and  spires  rise  up  thousands  of  feet  in  height,  mocking  in  their  im- 
mensity and  grandeur  the  puny  efforts  of  human  art ;  while  yet 
higher  the  domes  of  pure  white  snow  and  glittering  spires  of  ice  far 
surpass  in  perfection,  as  well  as  in  immensity,  all  the  Moslem  mus- 
jids  and  minars." 

But  more  impressive  than  the  most  fantastic  or  imposing 
forms  are  the  vast  spaces  of  untrodden  snow,  and  the  awful 
solitudes  and  silences  of  the  upper  air.  No  wonder  that  the 
Hindoos  made  this  inaccessible  region  the  dwelling-place  of 
their  gods.  It  is  their  Kylas,  or  Heaven.  The  peak  of  Bad- 
rinath,  24,000  feet  high,  is  the  abode  of  Vishnu  j  and  that 


200         A  CHUKCH  ON  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

< 

of  Kedamath,  23,000,  is  the  abode  of  Shiva — two  of  the  Hin- 
doo Trinity. .  Nunda  Davee  (the  goddess  Nunda)  is  the  wife 
of  Shiva.  Around  these  summits  gathers  the  whole  Hindoo 
mythology.  Yonder,  where  we  see  a  slight  hollow  in  the 
mountains,  is  Gungootree,  where  the  Ganges  takes  its  rise, 
Issuing  from  a  great  glacier  by  a  fissure,  or  icy  cavern,  worn 
underneath,  called  the  Cow's  Mouth.  Farther  to  the  west  is 
Juranootree,  the  source  of  .the  Jumna.  Both  these  places 
are  very  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  Hindoos,  and  as  near  to 
them  as  any  structure  can  be  placed,  are  shrines,  which  are 
visited  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts 
of  India. 

Thus  these  snowy  heights  are  to  the  Hindoo  Mount  Sinai 
and  Calvary  in  one.  Here  is  not  only  the  summit  where 
God  gave  the  law,  but  where  God  dwells  evermore,  and  out 
of  which  issue  the  sacred  rivers,  which  are  like  the  xivers  of 
the  water  of  life  flowing  out  of  the  throne  of  God ;  or  like 
the  blood  of  atonement,  to  wash  away  the  sins  of  the  world. 

But  the  associations  of  this  spot  ai-e  not  all  of  Hindooism 
?nd  idolatry.  True,  we  are  in  a  wintry  region,  but  there  is 
an  Alpine  flower  that  grows  at  the  foot  of  the  snows.  Close 
to  Lai  Tiba  E  observed  a  large  tree  of  rhododendrons,  in  full 
bloom,  although  it  was  February,  their  scarlet  blossoms  con- 
trasting with  the  snow  which  had  fallen  on  them  the  night 
before.  But  the  fairest  blossom  on  that  Alpine  height  is  a 
Christian  church.  Lai  Tiba  itself  belongs  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian mission,  and  adjoining  it  is  the  house  of  the  missiona- 
ries. On  the  I'idge  is  a  mission  church,  built  chiefly  by  the 
indefatigable  efforts  of  Mr.  Woodside.  It  is  a  modest,  yet 
tasteful  building,  standing  on  a  point  of  rock,  which  is  in  full 
view  of  the  Snowy  Range,  and  overlooks  the  whole  mountain 
landscape.  It  was  like  a  banner  in  the  sky — that  white 
church — standing  on  such  a  height,  as  if  it  were  in  the  clouds, 
looking  across  at  the  mighty  range  beyond,  and  smiling  at 
the  sternal  snows ! 


THE   GIKLS'   SCHOOL   AT   DEURA   BOON.  201 

The  hardest  thing  in  going  round  the  world,  is  to  break 
away  from  friends.  Not  the  friends  we  have  left  in  America, 
for  those  we  may  hope  to  see  again,  but  the  friends  made 
along  the  way.  One  meets  so  many  kind  people,  and  enters 
so  many  hospitable  homes,  that  to  part  from  them  is  an  ever- 
renewing  sorrow  and  regret.  We  have  found  many  such 
homes  in  India,  but  none  in  which  we  would  linger  more  than 
in  this  lovely  Vale  of  Dehra  Doon. 

One  attraction  is  the  Girls'  School,  which  we  might  almost 
call  the  missionary  flower  of  India.  The  building,  which 
would  be  a  "  Seminary  "  at  home,  stands  in  the  midst  of 
ample  grounds,  where,  in  the  intervals  of  study,  the  inmates 
can  find  healthful  exercise.  The  pupils  are  mostly  the 
daughtei*s  of  native  Christians — converted  Hindoos  or  Mo- 
hammedans. Some  are  orphans,  or  have  been  forsaken  by 
their  parents,  and  have  thus  fallen  to  the  care  of  an  institution 
which  is  more  to  them  than  their  natural  fathers  and  mothers. 
Many  of  these  young  girls  had  very  sweet  faces,  and  all  were 
as  modest  and  well  behaved  as  the  girls  I  have  seen  in  any 
similar  institution  in  our  own  country.  Some  are  adopted  by 
friends  in  America,  who  engage  to  provide  for  their  education. 
Wishing  to  have  a  part  in  this  good  work,  we  looked  about 
the  school  till  we  picked  out  the  veriest  morsel  of  a  creature, 
as  small  as  Dickens's  Tiny  Tim — but  whose  eyes  were  very 

bright,  and  her  mind  as  active  as  her  body  was  frail,  and  C 

thereupon  adopted  her  and  paid  down  a  himdred  rupees  for  a 
year's  board  and  teaching.  She  is  by  birth  a  Mohammedan, 
but  will  be  trained  up  as  a  Christian.  She  is  very  winning  in 
her  ways ;  and,  dear  me,  when  the  little  creature  crept  up 
into  my  lap,  and  looked  up  into  my  face  with  her  great  black 
eyes,  it  was  such  an  appesQ  for  love  and  protection  as  I  could 
not  resist ;  and  when  she  put  her  thin  arms  around  my  neck, 
I  felt  richer  than  if  I  had  been  encircled  with  one  of  those 
necklaces  of  peai-1,  which  the  Rajahs  were  just  then  throwing 
around  the  neck  of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
0* 


202  VISIT   TO   THE   TEA   PLANTATIONS. 

Our  last  day  was  spent  in  a  visit  to  the  tea  plantations. 
The  culture  of  tea  has  been  introduced  into  India  within  a 
few  years,  and  portions  of  the  country  are  found  so  favorable 
that  the  tea  is  thought  by  many  equal  to  that  imported  from 
China.  Mr.  Woodside  took  us  out  in  a  carriage  a  few  miles, 
when  we  left  the  road  and  crossed  the  fields  on  the  back  of  an 
elephant,  which  is  a  better  "  coigne  of  vantage  "  than  the 
back  of  a  horse,  as  the  rider  is  lifted  up  higher  into  the  air, 
and  in  passing  under  trees  can  stretch  out  his  hand  (as  wo 
did)  and  pick  blossoms  and  birds'  nests  from  the  branches ; 
but  there  is  a  rolling  motion  a  little  too  much  like  "  life  on 
an  ocean  wave,"  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  glory  of  the  thing 
I  confess  I  should  rather  have  under  me  some  steady  old  trot- 
ter, such  as  I  have  had  at  home,  or  even  one  of  the  little  don- 
keys with  which  we  used  to  amble  about  the  streets  of  Cairo. 
But  there  are  times  when  one  would  prefer  the  elejjhant,  as 
if  he  shovild  chance  to  meet  a  tiger !  The  beast  we  were 
riding  this  morning  was  an  old  tiger  hunter,  that  had  often 
been  out  in  the  jungle,  and  as  he  marched  off,  seemed  as  if  he 
would  like  nothing  better  than  to  smell  his  old  enemy.  In  a 
deadly  combat  the  tiger  has  the  advantage  in  quickness  of 
motion,  and  can  spring  upon  the  elephant's  neck,  but  if  the 
latter  can  get  his  trunk  around  him  he  is  done  for,  for  he  is 
instantly  dashed  to  the  ground,  and  tram2:)led  to  death  under 
the  monster's  feet.  We  had  no  occasion  to  test  his  courage, 
though,  if  what  we  heard  was  true,  he  might  have  found  game 
not  far  off,  for  a  native  village  through  which  we  passed  was 
jxist  then  in  terror  because  of  a  tiger  who  had  lately  come 
about  and  carried  off  several  bullocks  only  a  few  da^'s  before, 
and  they  had  sent  to  Mr.  Bell,  a  tea  i)lanter  whom  we  met 
later  in  the  day,  to  come  and  shoot  him.  He  told  me  he 
would  come  willingly,  but  that  the  natives  were  of  a  low 
caste,  who  had  not  the  Hindoos'  horror  of  touching  such  food, 
and  devoured  the  half  eaten  bullock.  If,  he  said,  they  would 
only  let  the  carcass  alone,  the  tiger  always  comes  back,  and 


rROCESS   OF    rREPARING   TEA..  203 

he  would  plant  himself  in  some  post  of  observation,  and  with 
'a  rifle  which  never  failed  would  soon  relieve  them  of  their 
terrible  enemy. 

After  an  hoixr  of  this  cross-country  riding,  our  elephant 
drew  up  before  the  door  of  a  large  house ;  a  ladder  was 
brought,  and  we  clambered  down  his  sides.  Just  then  we 
heard  the  sharp  cracks  of  a  gun,  and  the  planter  came  in, 
saying  that  he  had  been  picking  off  monkeys  which  were  a 
little  troublesome  in  his  garden.  This  was  Mr.  Nelson,  one 
of  the  largest  planters  in  the  valley,  with  whom  we  had  en- 
gaged to  take  tiffin.  He  took  us  over  his  plantation,  which 
is  laid  out  on  a  grand  scale,  many  acres  being  set  in  rows 
with  the  tea  plant,  which  is  a  small  shrub,  about  as  large  as 
a  gooseberry  bush,  from  which  the  leaves  are  carefully  picked. 
The  green  tea  is  not  a  different  plant  from  the  black  tea,  but 
only  differently  prepared.  From  the  plantation  we  were 
taken  to  the  roasting-house,  where  the  tea  lay  upon  the  floor 
in  great  heaps,  like  heaps  of  grain  ;  and  where  it  is  subjected 
to  a  variety  of  processes,  to  prepare  it  for  use  or  for  exporta- 
tion. It  is  first "  wilted  "  in  large  copper  pans  or  ovens  ; 
then  *'  rolled  "  on  a  table  of  stretched  matting  ;  then  slightly 
dried,  and  put  back  in  the  ovens ;  then  rolled  again ;  and 
finally  subjected  to  a  good  "  roasting,"  by  which  time  every 
drop  of  moisture  is  got  out  of  it,  and  it  acquires  the  peculiar 
twist,  or  shrivelled  look,  so  well  known  to  dainty  lovers  of 
the  cup  which  cheers  but  not  inebriates.  How  perfect  was 
the  growing  and  the  preparation  appeared  when  we  sat  down 
at  the  generous  table,  where  we  found  the  flavor  as  delicate  as 
that  of  any  we  had  ever  sipped  that  came  from  the  Flowery 
Land. 

Leaving  this  kind  and  hospitable  family,  we  rode  on  to  the 
plantation  of  Mr.  Bell,  who  had  the  "  engagement  "  to  shoot 
the  tiger.  He  is  a  brave  Scot,  very  fond  of  sport,  and  had 
a  room  full  of  stuffed  birds,  which  he  was  going  to  send  oft"  to 
Australia.     Occasionally  he  had  a  shot  at  other  game.    Once 


204         LEAVING  THE  VALLEY CARRIED  IN  DOOLEYS. 

he  had  brought  down  a  leopard,  and,  as  he  said,  thought  tho 
beast  was  "  deed,"  and  went  up  to  him,  when  the  brute  gave 
a  spring,  and  tore  open  his  leg,  which  laid  him  up  for  two 
months.  But  such  beasts  are  really  less  dangerous  than  the 
cobras,  which  crawl  among  the  rows  of  plants,  and  as  the  field- 
hands  go  among  them  barefoot,  some  fall  victims  every  year. 
But  an  Englishman  is  protected  by  his  boots,  and  Mr.  Bell 
strolls  about  with  his  dog  and  his  gun,  without  the  slightest 
sense  of  danger. 

We  had  now  accomplished  our  visit  to  the  Himalayas,  and 
were  to  bid  adieu  to  the  mountains  and  the  valleys.  But 
how  were  we  to  get  back  to  Saharanpur  ?  There  was  the 
mail-wagon  and  the  omnibuckus.  But  these  seemed  very 
prosaic  after  our  mountain  raptures.  Mr.  Herron  sug- 
gested that  we  should  try  dooleys — long  palanquins  in  Avhich 
we  could  lie  down  and  sleep  (perhaps),  and  thus  be  carried 
over  the  mountains  at  night.  As  we  were  eager  for  new 
experiences,  of  course  we  were  ready  for  any  novelt3^  But 
great  bodies  move  slowly,  and  how  great  we  were  we  began  to 
realize  when  we  found  what  a  force  it  took  to  move  us.  Mr. 
Herron  sent  for  the  chaudri — a  kind  of  public  carrier  whose 
office  it  is  to  j)rovide  for  such  services — and  an  engagement 
was  formally  entered  into  between  the  high  contracting  par- 
ties that  for  a  certain  sum  he  was  to  provide  two  dooleys  and 
a  sufficient  number  of  bearers,  to  carry  us  over  the  moun- 
tains to  Saharanpi;r,  a  distance  of  forty-two  miles.  This  was 
duly  signed  and  sealed,  and  the  money  paid  on  the  spot,  with 
promise  of  liberal  backsheesh  at  the  end  if  the  agreement 
was  satisfactorily  performed. 

Thus  authorized  and  empowered  to  enter  into  negotiations 
with  inferior  parties,  the  chaudri  sent  forward  a  courier,  or 
sarbarah,  to  go  ahead  over  the  whole  route  a  day  in  advance, 
and  to  secure  the  relays,  and  thus  prepare  for  our  royal 
progress. 

This  seemed  very  magnificent,  but  when  our  retinue  filed 


rr  TAKES   SEVENTY   MEN   TO   CARKY    US.  205 

into  the  yard  on  the  evening  of  our  departure,  and  drew  up 
before  the  veranda,  we  were  almost  ashamed  to  see  what  a 
prodigious  ado  it  took  to  get  us  two  poor  mortals  out  of  the 
valley.  Our  escort  was  as  follows ;  Each  dooley  had  six 
bearers,  or  kahars — four  to  carry  it,  aud  two  to  be  ready  as  a 
reserve.  Besides  these  twelve,  there  were  two  hahangi-wcd- 
las  to  carry  our  one  trunk  on  a  bamboo  pole,  making  four- 
teen persons  in  all.  As  there  were  five  stages  (for  one  set 
of  men  could  only  go  about  eight  miles),  it  took  seventy 
men  (besides  the  two  high  officials)  to  carry  our  saci-ed  per- 
sons these  forty-two  miles !  Of  the  reserve  of  four  who 
walked  beside  us,  two  performed  the  function  of  torch-bear- 
ers— no  unimportant  matter  when  traversing  a  forest  so  full 
of  wild  beasts  that  the  natives  cannot  be  induced  to  cross  it 
at  night  without  lights  kept  burning. 

The  torch  was  made  simply  by  winding  a  piece  of  cloth 
around  the  end  of  a  stick,  and  pouring  oil  upon  it  from  a 
bottle  carried  for  the  purpose  (just  the  mode  of  the  wise 
virgins  in  the  parable).  Our  kind  friends  had  put  a  mat- 
tress in  each  dooley,  with  pillows  and  coverlet,  so  that  if  we 
could  not  quite  go  to  bed,  we  could  make  ourselves  comforta- 
ble for  a  night's  journey.  I  took  off  my  boots,  aud  wrapping 
my  feet  ip  the  soft  fur  of  the  skin  of  the  Himalayan  goat, 
which  I  had  purchased  in  the  mountains,  stretched  myself 

Like  a  warrior  taking  his  rest, 
With  his  martial  cloak  around  him, 

and  bade  the  cavalcade  take  up  its  march.  They  lighted 
their  torches,  and  like  the  wise  virgins,  "  took  oil  in  their 
vessels  with  their  lamps,"  and  set  out  on  our  night  journey. 
At  first  we  wound  our  way  through  the  streets  of  the  town, 
through  bazaars  and  past  temples,  till  at  last  we  emerged 
from  all  signs  of  human  habitation,  and  were  alone  with  the 
forests  and  the  stars. 

When  we  were  fairly  in  the  woods,  all  the  stories  I  had 


206  STORIES    OF   TIGERS 

heard  of  wild  beasts  came  back  to  me.  For  a  week  past  I 
had  been  listening  to  thrilling  incidents,  many  of  which 
occurred  in  this  very  mountain  pass.  The  Sewalic  range  is 
entirely  uninhabited  except  along  the  roads,  and  is  thus 
given  up  to  wild  beasts,  and  nowhere  is  one  more  likely  to 
meet  an  adventure.  That  very  morning,  at  breakfast,  Mrs. 
Woodside  had  given  me  her  experience.  She  was  once 
crossing  this  pass  at  night,  and  as  it  came  near  the  break  of 
day  she  saw  men  running,  and  heard  the  cry  of  "  tiger,"  but 
thought  little  of  it,  as  the  natives  were  apt  to  give  false 
alarms ;  but  presently  the  horses  began  to  rear  and  plunge, 
so  that  the  driver  loosed  them  and  let  them  go,  and  just  then 
she  heard  a  tremendous  roar,  which  seemed  close  to  the  wag- 
on, where  a  couple  of  the  brutes  had  come  down  to  drink 
of  a  brook  by  the  roadside.  She  was  so  terrified  that  she 
did  not  dare  to  look  out,  but  shut  at  once  the  windows  of 
the  gharri.  Presently  some  soldiers  came  up  the  pass  with 
elephants,  who  went  in  pursuit,  but  the  monsters  had 
retreated  into  the  forest. 

That  was  some  years  ago,  but  such  incidents  may  still  hap- 
pen. Only  a  few  weeks  since  Mr.  Woodside  was  riding 
through  the  pass  at  night  in  the  mail-wagon,  and  had 
dropped  asleep,  when  his  companion,  a  British  officpr,  awoke 
him,  telling  him  he  had  just  seen  a  couple  of  tigers  distinctly 
in  the  moonlight. 

One  would  suppose  we  were  safe  enough  with  more  than  a 
dozen  attendants,  but  the  natives  are  veiy  timid,  and  a 
tiger's  roar  will  set  them  flying.  A  lady  at  Dehra,  the 
daughter  of  a  missionary,  told  us  how  she  was  once  carried 
with  her  mother  and  one  or  two  other  children  in  dooleys, 
when  just  at  break  of  day  a  huge  tiger  walked  out  of  a 
wood,  and  came  right  towards  them,  when  the  brave  coolies 
at  once  dropped  them  and  ran,  leaving  the  mother  and  her 
children  to  their  fate.  Fortiinately  she  had  presence  of 
mind  to  light  a  piece  of  matting,  and  throw  it  out  to  the 


AND   WILD    ELEPHANTS.  207 

brute,  who  either  from  that,  or  perhaps  because  he  was  too 
noble  a  beast  to  attack  a  woman,  after  eyeing  them  for  some 
moments,  deliberately  walked  away. 

Such  associations  with  the  road  we  were  travelling,  gave 
an  excitement  to  our  night  journey  which  was  not  the  most 
composing  to  sleep.  It  is  very  well  to  sit  by  the  fireside 
and  talk  about  tigers,  but  I  do  not  know  of  anybody  who 
would  care  to  meet  one  in  the  woods,  unless  well  armed  and 
on  an  elephant's  back. 

But  what  if  a  wild  elephant  should  come  out  upon  us? 
In  general,  I  believe  these  are  quiet  and  peaceable  beasts,  but 
they  are  subject  to  a  kind  of  madness  which  makes  them  un- 
tamable. A  "  rogue  elephant " — one  who  has  been  tamed, 
and  afterwards  goes  back  to  his  savage  state — is  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  of  wild  beasts.  When  the  Prince  of  Wales 
was  hunting  in  the  Terai  with  Sir  Jung  Bahadoor,  an  alarm 
was  given  that  a  rogue  elephant  was  coming,  and  they  pushed 
the  Piince  up  into  a  tree  as  quickly  as  possible,  for  the  monster 
has  no  respect  to  majesty.  Mrs.  Woodside  told  me  that  they 
once  had  a  servant  who  asked  to  go  home  to  visit  his  friends. 
On  his  way  he  lay  down  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  and  fell  asleep, 
when  a  rogue  elephant  came  along,  and  took  him  up  like  a 
kitten,  ahd  crushed  him  in  an  instant,  and  threw  him  on  tlie 
roadside. 

The  possibility  of  such  an  adventure  was  quite  enough  to 
keep  our  .imagination  in  lively  exercise.  Our  friends  had 
told  us  that  there  was  no  danger  with  flaming  torches,  al- 
though we  might  perhaps  hear  a  distant  roar  on  the  moun- 
tains, or  an  elephant  breaking  tlirough  the  trees.  We  listened 
intently.  When  the  men  were  moving  on  in  silence,  we 
strained  our  ears  to  catch  any  sound  that  might  break  the 
stillness  of  the  forest.  If  a  branch  fell  from  a  tree,  it  might 
be  an  elephant  coming  through  the  wood.  If  we  could  not 
see,  we  imagined  forms  gliding  in  the  darkness.  Even  the 
shadows  cast  by  the  starlight  took  the  shapes  that  we  dreaded. 


208  TKA-VERSING    THE   FOREST. 

Hush !  there  is  a  stealthy  step  over  the  fallen  leaves.  No, 
it  is  the  wind  whispering  in  the  trees.  Thus  was  it  all  night 
long.  If  any  wild  beasts  glared  on  us  out  of  the  covert,  our 
flaming  torches  kept  them  at  a  respectful  distance.  We  did 
not  hear  the  tramp  of  an  elephant,  the  growl  of  a  tiger,  or 
even  the  cry  of  a  jackal. 

But  though  we  had  not  the  excitement  of  an  adventure, 
the  scene  itself  was  wild  and  weird  enough.  We  were  en- 
tirely alone,  with  more  than  a  dozen  men,  with  not  one  of 
whom  we  could  exchange  a  single  word,  traversing  a  moun- 
tain pass,  with  miles  of  forest  and  jungle  separating  us  from 
any  habitation.  Our  attendants  were  men  of  powerful  phy- 
sique, whose  swarthy  limbs  and  strange  faces  looked  more 
strange  than  ever  by  the  torchlight.  Once  in  seven  or  eight 
miles  they  set  down  their  burden.  We  halted  at  a  camp  fire 
by  the  roadside,  where  a  fresh  relay  was  waiting.  There  our 
fourteen  men  were  swelled  to  twenty -eight.  Then  the  cur- 
tain of  my  couch  was  gently  drawn  aside,  a  black  head  was 
thrust  in,  and  a  voice  whispei'ed  in  the  softest  of  tones 
"  Sahib,  backsheesh  !  "  Then  the  new  bearers  took  up  their 
load,  and  jogged  on  their  way. 

I  must  say  they  did  very  well.  The  motion  was  not  un- 
pleasant. The  dooley  rested  not  on  two  poles,  but  on  one 
long  bamboo,  three  or  four  inches  in  diameter,  at  each  end  of 
which  two  men  braced  themselves  against  each  other,  and 
moved  forward  with  a  swinging  gait,  a  kind  of  dog  trot^ 
which  they  accompanied  with  a  low  grunt,  which  seemed  to 
relieve  them,  and  be  a  way  of  keeping  time.  Their  burdens 
did  not  fatigue  them  much — at  least  they  did  not  groan  under 
the  load,  but  talked  and  laughed  by  the  way.  Nor  were 
luxuries  forgotten.  One  of  the  men  carried  a  hooka,  which 
served  for  the  whole  party,  being  passed  from  mouth  to 
mouth,  with  which  the  men,  when  oft'  duty,  refreshed  them- 
selves with  many  a  puff  of  the  fragrant  weed. 

Thus  refreshed  they  kept  up  a  steady  gait  of  about  three 


RETURN   TO    8AHAKANPUR.  209 

miles  an  hour  through  the  night.  At  length  the  day  began 
to  break.  As  we  approached  the  end  of  our  journey  the 
men  pricked  up  speed,  and  I  thought  they  would  come  in  on 
a  run.  Glad  were  we  to  come  in  sight  of  Saharanpur.  At 
ten  o'clock  we  entered  the  Mission  Compound,  and  drew  up 
before  the  door  of  "  Calderwood  Padre,"  who,  as  he  saw  me 
stretched  out  at  full  length,  "  like  a  warrior  taking  his  rest," 
if  not  "  with  his  mai'tial  cloak  around  him,"  yet  with  his 
Scotch  plaid  shawl  covering  "  his  manly  breast,"  declared 
that  I  was  "  an  old  Indian  I  " 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE    TRAGEDY    OF    CAWNPORE. 

The  interest  of  India  is  not  wholly  in  the  far  historic  past. 
Within  our  own  times  it  has  been  the  theatre  of  stirring 
events.  In  coming  down  from  Upper  India,  we  passed  over 
the  "  dark  and  bloody  gi-ound  "  of  tlie  Mutiny — one  of  the 
most  terrible  struggles  of  modern  times — a  struggle  unrelieved 
by  any  of  the  amenities  of  civilized  warfare.  On  the  banks 
of  the  Ganges  stands  a  dull  old  city,  of  which  Bayard  Taylor 
onoe  wrote :  '*  Cawnpore  is  a  pleasant  spot,  though  it  con- 
tains nothing  whatever  to  interest  the  traveller."  That  was 
true  when  he  saw  it,  twenty-four  years  ago.  It  was  then  a 
"  sleepy  "  place.  Everything  had  a  quiet  and  peaceful  look. 
The  river  flowed  peacefully  along,  and  the  pretty  bimgalows 
of  the  English  residents  on  its  banks  seemed  like  so  many 
castles  of  indolence,  as  they  stood  enclosed  in  spacious 
grounds,  under  the  shade  of  trees,  whose  leaves  scarcely 
stirred  in  the  sultry  air.  But  four  years  after  that  American 
traveller  had  passed,  that  peaceful  river  ran  with  Christian 
blood,  and  that  old  Indian  town  witnessed  scenes  of  cruelty 
worse  than  that  of  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta,  committed  by 
a  monster  more  inhuman  than  Surajah  Dowlah.  The  mem- 
ory of  those  scenes  now  gives  a  melancholy  interest  to  the 
place,  siich  as  belongs  to  no  other  in  India. 

It  was  midnight  when  we  reached  Cawnpore  (we  had  left 
Saharanpur  in  the  morning),  and  we  were  utter  strangers  ; 
but  as  we  stepped  from  the  railway  carriage,  a  stalwart  Amer- 
ican (Rev.  Mr.  Mansell  of  the  Methodist  Mission)  came  up, 


THE  MUTINY   IN   1857.  211 

and  calling  iis  by  name,  took  us  to  his  home,  and  "  kindly 
entreated  us,"  and  the  next  morning  rode  about  the  city  with 
us  to  show  the  sadly  memorable  places. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  in  India  in  1857,  took  its 
English  rulers  by  surprise.  They  had  held  the  country  for 
a  hundred  years,  and  thought  they  could  hold  it  forever.  So 
secure  did  they  feel  that  they  had  reduced  their  army  to  a 
minimum.  In  the  Russian  war,  regiment  after  regiment  was 
called  home  to  serve  in  the  Crimea,  till  there  were  left  not 
more  than  twenty  thousand  British  troops  in  all  India — an 
insignificant  force  to  hold  such  a  vast  dependency ;  and  weak- 
ened still  more  by  being  scattered  in  small  bodies  over  the 
country,  with  no  means  of  rapid  concentration.  Thei-e  was 
hardly  a  railroad  in  India.  All  movements  of  troops  had  to 
be  made  by  long  marches.  Thus  detached  and  helpless,  the 
military  power  was  really  in  the  hands  of  the  Sepoys,  who 
garrisoned  the  towns,  and  whom  the  English  had  trained  to  be 
good  soldiers,  with  no  suspicion  that  their  skill  and  discipline 
would  ever  be  turned  against  themselves. 

This  was  the  opportunity  for  smothered  discontent  to 
break  out  into  open  rebellion.  There  had  long  been  among 
the  people  an  uneasy  and  restless  feeling,  such  as  is  the  pre- 
cursor of  revolution — a  ground  swell,  which  sometimes  comes 
befoi'e  as  well  as  after  a  storm.  It  was  just  a  hundred  years 
since  the  battle  of  Plassey  (fought  June,  1757),  which  decid- 
ed the  fate  of  India,  and  it  was  whispered  that  when  the  cen- 
tury was  complete,  the  English  yoke  should  be  broken,  and 
India  should  be  free.  The  Crimean  war  had  aroused  a  spirit 
of  fanaticism  among  the  Mohammedans,  which  extended 
across  the  whole  of  Asia,  and  fierce  Moslems  believed  that  if 
the  English  were  but  driven  out,  there  might  be  a  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  splendid  old  Mogul  Empire.  This  was,  therefore, 
a  critical  moment,  in  which  the  defenceless  state  of  India 
offered  a  temptation  to  rebellion.  Some  there  were  (like  the 
Lawrences — Sir  John  in  the   Punjaub,  and  Sir  Henry  in 


212  DEFENCE  OF   CAWNPOEE. 

Lucknow)  whose  eyes  were  opened  to  the  danger,  and  who 
warned  the  government.  But  it  coukl  not  believe  a  rebellion 
was  possible ;  so  that  when  the  storm  burst,  it  was  like  a 
peal  of  thunder  from  a  clear  sky. 

Thus  taken  by  surprise,  and  otf  their  guard,  the  English 
were  at  a  great  disadvantage.  But  they  quickly  recovered 
themselves,  and  prepared  for  a  desperate  defence.  In  towns 
where  the  garrisons  were  chiefly  of  native  troops,  with  only 
a  small  nucleus  of  English  oflScers  and  soldiers,  the  latter  had 
no  hope  of  safety,  but  to  rally  all  on  whom  they  could  rely, 
and  retreat  into  the  forts,  and  hold  out  to  the  last.  Such  a 
quick  movement  saved  Agra,  where  Sir  William  Muir  told 
me,  he  and  hundreds  of  refugees  with  him,  passed  the  whole 
time  of  the  mutiny,  shut  up  in  the  fort.  The  same  prompt- 
ness saved  Allahabad.  But  in  Delhi,  where  the  rising  took 
place  a  few  days  before,  the  alarm  was  not  taken  quickly 
enough ;  the  Sepoys  rushed  in,  shooting  down  their  officers, 
and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  fort  and  the  city,  which 
was  not  retaken  till  months  after,  at  the  close  of  a  long  and 
terrible  siege. 

At  Cawnpore  there  was  no  fort.  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler,  who 
was  in  command,  had  three  or  four  thousand  troops,  but  not 
one  man  in  ten  was  an  English  soldier.  The  rest  were 
Sepoys,  who  caught  the  fever  of  disaffection,  and  marched  off 
with  horses  and  guns.  Mustering  the  little  remnant  of  his 
force,  he  threw  up  intrenchments  on  the  parade-ground,  into 
which  he  gathered  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  differ- 
ent regiments.  Adding  to  these  "  civilians "  and  native 
servants,  and  the  sick  in  the  hospital,  there  were  about 
300  more,  with  330  women  and  children.  The  latter,  of 
course,  added  nothing  to  the  strength  of  the  garrison,  but 
were  a  constant  subject  of  cai'e  and  anxiety.  But  with  this 
little  force  he  defended  himself  bravely  for  several  weeks, 
beating  off  every  attack  of  the  enemy.  But  he  was  in  no 
condition  to  sustain  a  siege  j  his  force  was  becoming  rapidly 


THE  8UKKENDER — MEN  SHOT  DOWN  IN  THE  BOATS.   213 

reduced,  while  foes  were  swarming  around  him.  In  this  ex- 
tremity, uncertain  when  an  English  array  could  come  to  his 
relief,  he  received  a  proposal  to  surrender,  with  the  promise 
that  all — men,  women,  and  children — should  be  allowed  to 
depart  in  safety,  and  be  ])rovided  with  boats  to  take  them 
down  the  Ganges  to  Allahabad.  He  did  not  listen  to  these 
smooth  promises  without  inward  misgivings.  He  was  suspi- 
cious of  treachery ;  but  the  case  was  desperate,  and  Nana 
Sahib,  who  up  to  the  time  of  the  Mutiny  had  protested  great 
friendship  for  the  English,  took  a  solemn  oath  that  they  should 
be  protected.  Thus  tempted,  they  yielded  to  the  fatal  surren- 
der. 

The  next  morning,  Jime  27th,  those  who  were  left  of  the 
little  garrison  marched  out  of  their  intrenchments,  and  were 
escorted  by  the  Sepoy  army  on  their  way  to  the  boats.  The 
women  and  cfiildren  and  wounded  were  mounted  on  ele- 
phants, and  thus  conveyed  down  to  the  river.  With  eager- 
ness they  embarked  on  the  boats  that  were  to  carry  them  to 
a  place  of  safety,  and  pushed  off  into  the  stream.  At  that 
moment  a  native  officer  who  stood  on  the  bank  raised  his 
sword,  and  a  masked  battery  opened  on  the  boats  with  grape- 
shot.  Instantly  ensued  a  scene  of  despair.  Some  of  the 
boats  sank,  others  took  fire,  and  men,  women,  and  children, 
were  struggling  in  the  water.  The  Mahratta  horsemen 
pushed  into  the  stream,  and  cut  down  the  men  who  tried  to 
save  themselves  (only  four  strong  swimmers  escaped),  while 
the  women  and  children  were  spared  to  a  worse  fate.  All 
the  men  who  were  brought  back  to  the  shore  were  massacred 
on  the  spot,  in  the  presence  of  this  human  tiger,  who  feasted 
his  eyes  with  their  blood ;  and  about  two  hundred  women 
and  children  were  taken  back  into  the  town  as  prisoners,  in 
deeper  wretchedness  than  before.  They  were  kept  in  close 
confinement  nearly  three  weeks  in  dreadful  uncertainty  of 
their  fate,  till  the  middle  of  July,  when  Havelock  was  ap- 
proaching by   forced  marches;    and  feai'ful  that   his   prey 


214  MASSACRE   OF   THE    WOMEN. 

should  escape,  Nana  Sahib  gave  orders  that  they  should  be 
put  to  death.  No  element  of  horror  was  wanting  in  that 
fearful  tragedy.  Says  one  who  saw  the  bodies  the  next  day, 
and  whose  wife  and  children  were  among  those  who  per- 
ished : 

"  The  poor  ladies  were  ordered  to  come  out,  but  neitlier  threats 
nor  persuasions  could  induce  them  to  do  so.  They  laid  hold  of  each 
other  by  dozens,  and  clung  so  close  that  it  was  impossible  to  sepa- 
rate them,  or  drag  them  out  of  the  building.  The  troopers  there- 
fore brought  muskets,  and  after  firing  a  great  many  shots  from  the 
doors  and  windows,  rushed  in  with  swords  and  bayonets.  [One  ac- 
count says  that,  as  Hindoos  shrink  from  the  touch  of  blood,  five 
MohsLmmedun  dutchers  were  sent  in  to  complete  the  work.]  Some 
of  the  helpless  creatures,  in  their  agony,  fell  down  at  the  feet  of 
their  murderers,  clasped  their  legs,  and  begged  in  the  most  pitiful 
manner  to  spare  their  lives,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  fearful  deed 
was  done  most  deliberately,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  most  dreadful 
shrieks  and  cries  of  the  victims.  From  a  little  before  sunset  till 
candlelight  was  occupied  in  completing  the  dreadful  deed.  The 
doors  of  the  building  were  then  locked  up  for  the  night,  and  the 
murderers  went  to  their  homes.  Next  morning  it  was  found,  on 
opening  the  doors,  that  some  ten  or  fifteen  women,  with  a  few  of 
the  children,  had  managed  to  escape  from  death  by  falling  and  hid- 
ing under  the  murdered  bodies  of  their  fellow-prisoners.  A  fresh 
order  was  therefore  sent  to  murder  them  also ;  but  the  survivors, 
not  being  able  to  bear  the  idea  of  being  cut  down,  rushed  out  into 
the  compound,  and  seeing  a  well,  threw  themselves  into  it  without 
hesitation,  thus  putting  a  period  to  lives  which  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  save.  The  dead  bodies  of  those  murdered  on  the  preceding 
evening  were  then  ordered  to  be  thrown  into  the  same  well,  and 
'jullars'  were  emi^loyed  to  drag  them  along  like  dogs."  * 

The  nexb  day  after  the  massacre,  Havelock  entered  the 
city,  and  officers  and  men  rushed  to  the  prison  house,  hop- 

*  ' '  Narrative  of  Mr.  Shepherd. "  He  owed  his  escape  to  the  fact 
that  before  the  surrender  of  the  garrison  he  had  made  an  attempt 
to  pass  through  the  rebel  lines  and  carry  word  to  Allahabad  to  has- 
ten the  march  of  troops  to  its  relief,  and  had  been  taken  and  thrown 
into  prison,  and  was  there  at  the  time  of  the  massacre. 


ARRIVAL    OF   THE   ENGLISH.  '215 

ing  to  be  in  time  to  save  that  unhappy  company  of  English 
women  and  children.  But  what  horrors  met  their  sight  I 
Not  one  living  remained.  The  place  showed  traces  of  the 
late  butchery.  The  floors  were  covered  with  blood.  "  Upon 
the  walls  and  pillars  wei-e  the  marks  of  bullets,  and  of  cuts 
made  by  sword-strokes,  not  high  up  as  if  men  had  fought 
with  men,  but  low  down,  and  about  the  comers,  where  the 
poor  crouching  victims  had  been  cut  to  pieces."  "  Locks  of 
long  silky  hair,  torn  shreds  of  dress,  little  children's  shoes 
and  playthings,  were  strewn  aroimd." 

The  sight  of  these  things  drove  the  soldiers  to  madness. 
"  When  they  entered  the  charnel  house,  and  read  the  writ- 
ing on  the.  walls  [sentences  of  wretchedness  and  despair], 
and  saw  the  still  clotted  blood,  their  grief,  their  rage,  their 
desire  for  vengeance,  knew  no  bounds.  Stalwart,  bearded 
men,  the  stern  soldiers  of  the  ranks,  came  out  of  that  house 
perfectly  unmanned,  utterly  unable  to  repress  their  emo- 
tions." Following  the  track  of  blood  from  the  prison  to  the 
well,  they  found  the  mangled  remains  of  all  that  martyred  com- 
pany. There  the  tender  English  mother  had  been  cast  with 
every  indignity,  and  the  child  still  living  thrown  down  to  die 
upon  its  mother's  breast.  Thus  were  they  heaped  together, 
the  dying  and  the  dead,  in  one  writhing,  palpitating  mass. 

Turning  away  from  this  ghastly  sight,  the  soldiers  asked 
only  to  meet  face  to  face  the  pei-petrators  of  these  horrible 
atrocities.  But  the  Sepoys,  cowardly  as  they  were  cruel, 
fled  at  the  approach  of  the  English.  Those  who  were  taken 
had  to  sufier  for  the  whole.  "  All  the  rebel  Sepoys  and 
troopers  who  were  captured,  were  collectively  tried  by  a 
drumhead  court-martial,  and  hanged."  But  for  such  a  crime 
as  the  cold-blooded  murder  of  helpless  women  and  childi-en, 
death  was  not  enough — ^it  should  be  death  accompanied  by 
shame  and  degra<lation.  The  craven  wretches  were  made  to 
clean  away  the  clotted  blood — a  task  peculiarly  odious  to  a 
Hindoo.     Says  General  Neill : 


216  PUNISHMENT   OF   THE   REBELS. 

' '  Whenever  a  rebel  is  caught,  he  is  immediately  tried,  and  unless 
he  can  prove  a  defence,  he  is  sentenced  to  be  hanged  at  once  ;  but 
the  chief  rebels,  or  ringleaders,  I  make  first  clear  up  a  certain  por- 
tion of  the  pool  of  blood,  still  two  inches  deep  in  the  shed  where  the 
fearful  murder  and  mutUation  of  women  and  children  took  place. 
To  touch  blood  is  most  abhorrent  to  the  high-caste  natives ;  they 
think  by  doing  so,  they  doom  their  souls  to  perdition.  Let  them 
think  so.  My  object  is  to  inflict  a  fearful  punishment  for  a  revolting, 
cowardly,  and  barbarous  deed,  an.d  to  strike  terror  into  these  rebels. 

"  The  first  I  caught  was  a  subahdar,  or  native  ofiicer — a  high-caste 
Brahmin,  who  tried  to  resist  my  order  to  clean  up  the  very  blood  he 
had  helped  to  shed  ;  but  I  made  the  provost-marshal  do  his  duty, 
and  a  few  lashes  made  the  miscreant  accomplish  his  task.  When 
done,  he  was  taken  out  and  immediately  hanged,  and  after  death, 
buried  in  a  ditch  at  the  roadside.  No  one  who  has  witnessed  the 
scenes  of  murder,  mutilation,  and  massacre,  can  ever  listen  to  the 
word  mercy,  as  applied  to  these  fiends. 

"Among  other  wretches  drawn  from  their  skulking  places,  was 
the  man  who  gave  Nana  Sahib's  orders  for  the  massacre.  After  this 
man's  identity  had  been  clearly  established,  and  his  complicity  in  di- 
recting the  massacre  proved  beyond  all  doubt,  he  was  compelled, 
upon  his  knees,  to  cleanse  up  a  portion  of  the  blood  yet  scattered  over 
the  fatal  yard,  and  while  yet  foul  from  his  sickening  task,  hung  like 
a  dog  before  the  gratified  soldiers,  one  of  whom  writes  :  '  The  col- 
lector who  gave  the  order  for  the  murder  of  the  poor  ladies,  was 
taken  prisoner  day  before  yesterday,  and  now  hangs  from  a  branch 
of  a  tree  about  two  hundred  yards  ofE  the  roadside.  '  " 

What  became  of  Nana  Sahib  after  the  Mutiny,  is 
a  mystery  that  probably  will  never  be  solved.  If  ho 
lived  he  sought  safety  in  flight.  Many  of  the  Mutineers 
took  refuge  in  the  jungle.  The  Government  kept  up  a  hunt 
for  him  for  years.  Several  times  it  was  thought  that  he  was 
discovered.  Only  a  year  or  two  ago  a  man  was  arrested, 
who  was  said  to  be  Nana  Sahib,  but  it  proved  to  be  a  case  of 
mistaken  identity.  In  going  up  from  Delhi  we  rode  in  the 
same  railway  carriage  with  an  old  army  surgeon,  whose  tes- 
timony saved  the  life  of  the  suspected  man.  He  had  lived 
in  Cawnpore  before  the  Mutiny,  and  knew  Nana  Sahib  well, 


STERN   EETKLBUTION.  217 

indeed  had  been  his  physician,  and  gave  me  much  informa- 
tion about  the  bloody  Mahratta  chief.  He  said  he  was  not 
so  bad  a  man  by  nature,  as  he  became  when  he  was  put  for- 
ward as  a  leader  in  a  desperate  enterprise,  and  surrounded 
by  men  who  urged  him  on  to  every  crime.  So  long  as  he  was 
under  the  wholesome  restraint  of  English  power,  he  was  a 
fair  specimen  of  the  "  mild  Hindoo,"  "  as  mild  a  mannered 
man  as  ever  scuttled  ship  or  cut  a  throat."  His  movement 
was  as  soft  as  that  of  a  cat  or  a  tiger.  But  like  the  tiger, 
when  once  he  tasted  blood,  it  roused  the  wild  beast  in  him, 
and  he  took  a  delight  in  killing.  And  so  he  who  might  have 
lived  quietly,  and  died  in  his  bed,  with  a  reputation  not  worse 
than  that  of  other  Indian  rulers,  has  left  a  name  in  history 
as  the  most  execrable  monster  of  modern  times.  It  seems  a 
defeat  of  justice  that  he  cannot  be  discovered  and  brought  to 
the  scaffold.  But  perhaps  the  judgment  of  G-od  is  more  se- 
vere than  that  of  man.  If  he  still  lives,  he  has  sxiffered  a 
thousand  deaths  in  these  twenty  years. 

My  informant  told  me  of  the  punishment  that  had  come 
on  many  of  these  men  of  blood.  Retribution  followed  hard 
after  their  crimes.  When  the  rebellion  was  subdued,  it  was 
stamped  out  without  mercy.  The  leaders  were  shot  away 
from  guns.  Others  who  were  only  less  guilty  had  a  short 
trial  and  a  swift  punishment.  In  this  work  of  meting  out 
retribution,  this  mild  physician  was  himself  obliged  to  be  an 
instrument.  Though  his  profession  was  that  of  saving  lives, 
and  not  of  destroying  them,  after  the  Mutiny  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  Commissioner  in  tlie  district  of  Cawnpore,  where 
he  had  lived,  to  try  insurgents,  with  the  power  of  life  and 
death,  and  with  no  appeal  from  his  sentence  !  It  was  a 
terrible  responsibility,  but  he  could  not  shrink  from  it,  and 
he  had  to  execute  many.  Those  especially  who  had  been 
guilty  of  acts  of  cruelty,  could  not  ask  for  mercy  which  they 
had  never  shown.  Among  those  whom  he  captured  was  the 
native  officer  who  had  givers  the  signal,  by  raising  his  sword, 
10 


218  THE   WELL. 

to  the  masked  battery  to  fire  on  the  boats.  He  said,  "  I 
took  him  to  that  vefry  spot,  and  hung  him  there  !  "  All  this 
sad  history  was  in  mind  as  we  went  down  to  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges,  where  that  fearful  tragedy  took  place  not  twenty 
years  before.  The  place  still  bears  the  name  of  the  Slaughter 
Ghat,  in  memory  of  that  fearful  deed.  We  imagined  the 
scene  that  summer's  morning,  when  the  stream  was  covered 
with  the  bodies  of  women  and  children,  and  the  air  was  filled 
with  the  shrieks  of  despair.  With  such  bitter  memories,  we 
recalled  the  swift  retribution,  and  rejoiced  that  such  a  crime 
had  met  with  such  a  punishment. 

From  the  river  we  drove  to  "  the  well,"  but  here  nothing 
is  painful  but  its  memories.  It  is  holy  ground,  which  pious 
hands  have  decked  with  flowers,  and  consecrated  as  a  shrine 
of  martyrdom.  Around  it  many  acres  have  been  laid  out  as 
a  garden,  with  all  manner  of  tropical  plants,  and  well-kept 
paths  winding  between,  along  which  the  stranger  walks 
slowly  and  sadly,  thinking  of  those  who  suffered  so  much  in 
life,  and  that  now  sleep  peacefully  beyond  the  reach  of  pain. 
In  the  centre  of  the  garden  the  place  of  Jihe  well  is  enclosed, 
and  over  the  sacred  spot  where  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were 
thrown,  stands  a  figure  in  marble,  whi(!h  might  be  that  of  the 
angel  of  Resignation  or  of  Peace,  with  folded  wings  and  face 
slightly  bended,  and  arms  across  her  breast,  and  in  her  hands 
palm-branches,  the  emblems  of  victory. 

The  visit  to  these  spots,  consecrated  by  so  much  suffering, 
had  an  added  tenderness  of  interest,  because  some  of  our  own 
countrymen  and  countrywomen  perished  there.  In  those 
fearful  scenes  the  blood  of  Americans — men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren— mingled  with  that  of  their  English  kindred.  One  of 
the  most  terrible  incidents  of  those  weeks  of  crime,  was  the 
massacre  of  a  party  from  Futteghur  that  tried  to  escape 
down  the  Ganges,  hoping  to  reach  Allahabad.  As  they  ap- 
proached Cawnpore,  they  concealed  themselves  in  the  tall 
grass  on  an  island,  but  wei-e  discovered  by  the  Sepoys,  and 


MASSACRE    OF   A   PAKTT   FROM   FUTTEGHUR.  219 

made  prisoners.  Some  of  the  party  were  wealthy  English 
residents,  who  offered  a  large  ransom  for  theii-  lives.  But 
their  captors  answered  roughly  :  "  What  they  wanted  was 
not  money,  but  blood  ! "  Brought  before  Nana  Sahib,  he 
ordered  them  instantly  to  be  put  to  death.  Among  them 
were  four  American  missionaries,  with  their  wives,  who 
showed  in  that  hour  of  trial  that  they  knew  how  to  suffer  and 
to  die.  Of  one  of  these  I  had  heard  a  very  touching  story 
but  a  few  days  before  from  my  friend,  Mr.  Woodside.  When 
we  were  standing  on  the  lower  range  of  the  Himalayas,  look- 
ing off  to  "  the  snows,"  he  told  me  how  he  had  once  made  an 
expedition  with  a  brother  missionary  among  these  mountains, 
which  are  full  of  villages,  like  the  hamlets  in  the  High  Alps. 
He  pointed  out  in  the  distance  the  very  route  they  took,  and 
even  places  on  the  sides  of  the  successive  ranges  where  they 
pitched  their  tents.  They  started  near  the  close  of  Septem- 
ber, and  were  out  all  October,  and  came  in  about  the  middle 
of  November,  being  gone  six  weeks.  After  long  and  weary 
marches  for  many  days,  they  came  to  a  little  village  called 
Karsaii  near  Jumnootree,  the  source  of  the  sacred  river  Jum- 
na, near  which  rose  a  giant  peak,  19,000  feet  high  (though  we 
could  but  just  see  it  on  the  horizon),  that  till  then  had  never 
been  trodden  by  human  foot,  but  which  they,  like  the  daring 
Americans  they  were,  determined  to  ascend.  Their  guides 
shrank  from  the  attempt,  and  refused  to  accompany  them ; 
but  they  determined  to  make  the  ascent  if  they  went  alone, 
and  at  last,  rather  than  be  left  behind,  their  men  followed, 
although  one  sank  down  in  the  snow,  and  could  not  reach  the 
summit.  But  the  young  missionaries  pressed  on  with  fresh 
ardor,  as  they  climbed  higher  and  higher.  As  they  reached 
the  upper  altitudes,  the  summit,  which  to  us  at  a  distance  of 
ninety  miles  seemed  but  a  peak  or  cone,  broadened  out  into 
a  plateau  of  miles  in  extent ;  the  snow  was  firm  and  hard  ; 
they  feared  no  crevasses,  and  strode  on  with  fearless  steps. 
But  there  was  something  awful  in  the  silence  and  the  soli- 


220  HOW   AN   AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   DIED. 

tude.  Not  a  living  thing  could  be  seen  on  the  face  of  earth 
or  sky.  Not  a  bird  soared  to  such  heights  ;  not  an  eagle  or 
a  vulture  was  abroad  in  search  of  prey  ;  not  a  bone  on  the 
waste  of  snow  told  whei'e  any  adventurous  explorer  had  per- 
ished before  them.  Alone  they  marched  over  the  fields  of 
untrodden  snow,  and  started  almost  to  hear  their  own  voices 
in  that  upper  air.  And  yet  such  was  their  sense  of  free- 
dom, that  they  could  not  contain  their  joy.  My  companion, 
said  Mr.  Woodside,  was  very  fond  of  a  little  hymn  in  Hindos- 
tanee,  a  translation  of  the  familiar  lines  : 

I'm  a  pilgrim,  I'm  a  stranger, 
And  I  tarry  but  a  night, 

and  as  we  went  upward,  he  burst  into  singing,  and  sang  joy- 
ously as  he  strode  over  the  fields  of  snow.  Little  he  thought 
that  the  end  of  his  pilgrimage  was  so  near  !  But  six  months 
later  the  Mutiny  broke  out,  and  he  was  one  of  its  first  vic- 
tims. He  was  of  the  party  from  Futteghur,  with  a  fate 
made  more  dreadful,  because  he  had  with  him  not  only  his 
wife,  but  two  children,  and  the  monster  spared  neither  age 
nor  sex.  After  the  Mtitiny,  Mr.  Woodside  visited  Cawn- 
pore,  and  made  diligent  inquiry  for  the  particulars  of  his 
friend's  death.  It  was  difficult  to  get  the  details,  as  the 
natives  were  very  reticent,  lest  they  should  be  accused ;  but 
as  near  as  he  could  learn,  "  Brother  Campbell,"  as  he  spoke 
of  him,  was  led  out  with  his  wife — he  holding  one  child 
in  his  arms,  and  she  leading  another  by  the  hand — and  thus 
all  together  they  met  their  fate  !  Does  this  seem  very  hard  ? 
Yet  was  it  not  sweet  that  they  could  thus  die  together,  and 
could  come  up  (like  the  family  of  Christian  in  Pilgrim's 
Progress)  in  one  group  to  the  wicket  gate  ?  No  need  had 
he  to  sing  any  more  : 

I'm  a  pilgrim,  I'm  a  Btranger, 
And  I  tarry  but  a  night, 


VICTOEY   THEOUGH   DEATH.  221 

for  on  that  siimmer  morning  he  passed  up  a  shining  pathway, 
whiter  than  the  fields  of  snow  on  the  crest  of  the  Himalayas, 
that  led  him  straight  to  the  gates  of  gold.  Let  no  man  com- 
plain of  the  sacrifice,  who  would  claim  the  reward  ;  for  so  it 
is  written,  "It  is  through  much,  tribulation  that  we  must 
enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God." 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

THE  STORY  OF    LUCKNOW. 

*'  You  are  going  to  Lifoknow  ?  "  she  said.  It  was  a  lady 
in  black,  who  sat  in  the  corner  of  the  railway  carriage,  as 
we  came  down  from  Upper  India.  A  cloud  passed  over  her 
face.  "  I  cannot  go  there  ;  I  was  in  the  Residency  during 
the  siege,  and  my  husband  and  daughter  were  killed  there. 
I  cannot  revisit  a  place  of  such  sad  memories."  It  was 
nothing  to  her  that  the  long  struggle  had  ended  in  victory, 
and  that  the  story  of  the  siege  was  one  of  the  most  glorious 
in  English  history.  Nothing  could  efface  the  impression  of 
those  months  of  suffering.  She  told  us  how  day  and  night 
the  storm  of  fire  raged  around  them ;  how  the  women  took 
refuge  in  the  cellars ;  how  her  daughter  was  killed  before 
her  eyes  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell  ;  and  how,  when  they 
grew  familiar  with  this  danger,  there  came  another  terrible 
fear — that  of  death  by  famine  ;  how  strong  men  grew  weak 
for  want  of  food ;  how  women  wasted  away  from  very  hun- 
ger, and  children  died  because  they  could  find  no  nourish- 
ment on  their  mother's  breasts. 

But  amid  those  horrors  there  was  one  figure  which  she 
loved  to  recall — that  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  the  lion- 
hearted  soldier,  who  kept  up  all  hearts  by  his  courage  and 
his  iron  will — till  he  too  fell,  and  left  them  almost  in  de- 
spair. 

Such  memories  might  keep  away  one  who  had  been  a  suf- 
ferer in  these  fearful  scenes,  but  they  stimulated  our  desire 
to  see  a  spot  associated  with  such  courage  and  devotion,  and 


CAWNPOKE   TO   LUCKNOW.  223 

led  'la  from  the  scene  of  the  tragedy  of  Cawnpore  to  that  of 
the  siege  of  Lucknow. 

P»it  how  soon  nature  washes  away  the  stain  of  blood  ! 
As  we  crossed  the  Ganges,  the  gentle  stream,  rippling  against 
the  Slaughter  Ghat,  left  no  red  spots  upon  its  stony  steps. 
Near  the  station  was  a  large  enclosure  full  of  elephants,  some 
of  whioh  perhaps  had  carried  their  burden  of  prisoners  down 
to  the  river's  brink  on  that  fatal  day,  but  were  now  "  taking 
their  ease,"  as  beasts  and  men  like  to  do.  Familiar  as  we 
are  with  the  sight,  it  always  gives  us  a  fresh  impression  of 
our  Asiatic  surroundings,  to  come  suddejily  upon  a  herd  of 
these  creatures  of  such  euormous  bulk,  with  ears  as  large  as 
umbrellas,  which  are  kept  moving  like  punkas  to  keep  off 
the  flies  ;  to  see  them  di'awing  up  water  into  their  trunks, 
as  "  Behemoth  drinketh  up  Jordan,"  and  spurting  it  over 
their  backs;  or  what  is  more  ludicrous  still,  to  see  them  oi 
play,  which  seems  entirely  out  of  character.  We  think  of 
the  elephant  as  a  grave  and  solemn  creature,  made  to  figure 
on  grand  occasions,  to  march  in  triumphal  processions,  can-y- 
ing  the  howdahs  of  great  Rajahs,  covered  with  cloth  of  gold. 
But  there  is  as  much  of  "  youth  "  in  the  elephant  as  in  any 
other  beast.  A  baby  ele[>liant  is  like  any  other  baby.  Aa 
little  tigers  play  like  kittens,  so  a  little  elephant  is  like  a  colt, 
or  like  "  Mary's  little  lamb." 

Lucknow  is  only  forty  miles  from  Cawnpore,  with  which 
it  is  connected  by  railway.  A  vast  plain  stretches  to  the 
gates  of  the  capital  of  Oude.  It  was  evening  when  we 
reached  our  destination,  where  another  American  friend, 
Rev.  Mr.  Mudge  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  was  waiting  to 
receive  us.  A  ride  of  perhaps  a  couple  of  miles  through  the 
streets  and  bazaars  gave  us  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  a  city 
which  ranks  among  the  first  in  India.  Daylight  showed  us 
still  more  of  its  extent  and  its  magnificence.  It  spreads  out 
many  miles  over  the  plain,  and  has  a  population  of  three 
hundred  thousand,  while  in  splendor  it  is  the  fii'st  of  the 


224  THE   CITY   OF   LUCKNOW. 

native  cities  of  India — by  native  I  mean  one  not  taking  its 
character,  like  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  from  the  English  ele- 
ment. Lucknow  is  more  purely  an  Indian  city,  and  has 
more  of  the  Oriental  style  in  its  architecture — its  domes  and 
minarets  reminding  us  of  Cairo  and  Constantinople.  Bayard 
Taylor  says  :  "  The  coup  d'ceil  from  one  of  the  bridges  over 
the  Goomtee,  resembles  that  of  Constantinople  from  the  bridge 
over  the  Golden  Horn,  and  is  more  imposing,  more  pictur- 
esque, and  more  truly  Oriental  than  any  other  city  in  India." 
It  is  a  Mohammedan  city,  as  much  as  Delhi,  the  mosques 
quite  overshadowing  the  Hindoo  temples ;  and  the  Mohur- 
rim,  the  great  Moslem  festival,  is  observed  here  with  the 
same  fanaticism.  But  it  is  much  larger  than  Delhi,  and 
though  no  single  palaces  equal  those  of  the  old  Moguls,  yet  it 
has  more  the  appearance  of  a  modern  capital,  in  its  busy 
and  crowded  streets.  It  is  a  great  commercial  city,  with  rich 
merchants,  with  artificers  in  silver  and  gold  and  all  the 
fabrics  of  the  East. 

But  the  interest  of  Lucknow,  derived  from  the  fact  of  its 
being  one  of  the  most  populous  cities  of  India,  and  one  of 
the  most  splendid,  is  quite  eclipsed  by  the  thrilling  events 
of  its  recent  history.  All  its  palaces  and  mosques  have  not 
the  attraction  of  one  sacred  spot.  Tliis  is  the  Residency, 
the  scene  of  the  siege,  which  will  make  the  name  of  Luck- 
now immortal.  How  the  struggle  came,  we  may  see  by 
recalling  one  or  two  facts  in  the  history  of  India. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  this  was  not  a  part  of  the 
British  possessions.  It  was  the  Kingdom  of  Oude,  with  a 
sovereign  who  still  lives  in  a  palace  near  Calcutta,  with  large 
revenues  wherewith  to  indulge  his  royal  pleasure,  but 
without  his  kingdom,  which  the  English  Government  has 
taken  from  him.  This  occurred  just  before  the  Mutiny, 
and  has  often  been  alleged  as  one  of  the  causes,  if  not  the 
cause,  of  the  outbreak ;  and  England  has  been  loudly  ac- 
cused  of  perfidy  and    treachery  towards  an  Indian  prince. 


THE   KING   OF   OUDE.  225 

and  of  having  brought  upon  herself  the  terrible  events  which 
followed. 

No  doubt  the  English  Government  has  often  carried  things 
with  a  high  hand  in  India,  and  done  acts  which  cannot  be 
defended,  just  as  we  must  confess  that  our  own  Government, 
in  dealing  with  our  Indian  tribes,  has  sometimes  seemed  to 
ignore  both  j  ustice  and  mercy.  But  as  to  this  king  of  Oude, 
his  "right "  to  his  dominion  (which  is,  being  interpreted,  a 
right  to  torture  his  unhappy  subjects)  is  about  the  same  as 
the  right  of  a  Bengal  tiger  to  his  jungle — a  right  which 
holds  good  till  some  daring  hunter  can  put  an  end  to  his 
career. 

When  this  king  ruled  in  Oude  he  was  such  a  father  to  his 
people,  and  such  was  the  affection  felt  for  his  paternal  govern- 
ment, that  he  had  to  collect  his  taxes  by  the  military,  and  it 
is  said  that  the  poor  people  in  the  country  built  their  villages 
on  the  borders  of  the  jungle,  and  kept  a  watch  out  for  the 
approach  of  the  soldiers.  As  soon  as  they  were  signalled  as 
being  in  sight,  the  wretched  peasants  gathered  up  whatever 
they  could  carry,  and  fled  into  the  jungle,  preferring  to  face 
the  wild  beasts  and  the  serpents  rather  than  these  mercena- 
ries of  a  tyrant.  The  troops  came,  seized  what  was  left  and 
set  fire  to  the  village.  After  they  were  gone,  the  miserable 
people  returned  and  rebuilt  their  mud  hovels,  and  tried  by 
tilling  the  soil,  to  gain  a  bare  subsistence.  Such  was  the 
patriarchal  government  of  one  of  the  native  princes  of 
India. 

This  king  of  Oude  now  finds  his  chief  amusement  in  col- 
lecting a  great  menagerie.  He  has  a  very  large  number  of 
wild  beasts.  He  has  also  a  "  snakery,"  in  which  he  has 
collected  all  the  serpents  of  India.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  such  a  man  seems  more  at  home  among  his  tigers 
and  cobras  than  in  oppressing  his  wretched  people.  If 
Americans  who  visit  his  palace  near  Calcutta  are  moved  to 
sympathy  with  this  deposed  king,  let  them  remember  what 
10* 


226  SIB   HENEY   LAWKENOE 

his  government  was,  and  they  may  feel  a  little  pity  for  his 
miserable  subjects. 

To  put  such  a  monster  off  the  throne,  and  thiis  put  an  end 
to  his  tyrannies,  was  about  as  much  of  a  "  crime  "  as  it 
would  be  to  restrain  the  king  of  Dahomey  or  of  Ashantee 
from  perpetuating  his  "  Grand  Custom."  I  am  out  of 
patience  with  this  mawkish  sympathy.  There  is  too  much 
real  misery  in  the  world  that  calls  for  pity  and  relief,  to  have 
us  waste  our  sensibilities  on  those  who  are  the  scourges  of 
mankind. 

But  once  done,  the  deed  could  not  be  undone.  Having 
seized  the  bull  by  the  horns,  it  was  necessary  to  hold  him, 
and  this  was  not  an  easy  matter.  It  needed  a  strong  hand, 
which  was  given  it  in  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  who  had  been 
thirty  years  in  India.  Hardly  had  he  been  made  governor 
before  he  felt  that  there  was  danger  in  the  air.  Neither  he 
nor  his  brother  John,  the  Governor  of  the  Punjaub,  were 
taken  by  surprise  when  the  Mutiny  broke  out.  Both  ex- 
pected it,  and  it  did  not  find  them  unprepared.  Oude  was 
indeed  a  centre  of  rebellion.  The  partisans  of  the  ex-king 
were  of  course  very  active,  so  that  when  the  Sepoys  muti- 
nied at  Meerut,  near  Delhi,  the  whole  kingdom  of  Oude  was 
in  open  revolt.  Every  place  was  taken  except  Lucknow, 
and  that  was  saved  only  by  the  wisdom  and  promptness  of 
its  new  governor. 

His  first  work  was  to  fortify  the  Residency  (so  called  from 
having  been  occupied  by  the  former  English  residents),  which 
had  about  as  much  of  a  military  character  as  an  old  English 
manor-house.  The  grounds  covered  some  acres,  on  which 
were  scattered  a  few  buildings,  oflicial  residences  and  guard- 
houses, with  open  spaces  between,  laid  out  in  lawns  and 
gardens.  But  the  quick  eye  of  the  governor  saw  its  capa- 
bility of  defence.  It  was  a  small  plateau,  raised  a  few  feet 
above  the  plain  around,  and  by  connecting  the  different 
buildings  by  walls,  which  could  be  mounted  with  batteries 


FORTIFIES   THE   EE8IDENCT.  227 

and  loopholed  for  musketry,  the  whole  could  be  constructed 
into  a  kind  of  fortress.  Into  this  he  gathered  the  European 
residents  with  their  women  and  children.  And  behind  such 
rude  defences  a  few  hundred  English  soldiers,  with  as  many 
natives  who  had  proved  faithful,  kept  a  large  army  at  bay 
for  six  months. 

There  was  a  fort  in  Lucknow  weU  supplied  with  guns  and 
ammunition,  but  it  was  defended  by  only  three  hundred 
men,  and  was  a  source  of  weakness  rather  than  strength, 
since  the  English  force  was  too  small  to  hold  it,  and  if  it 
should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Sepoys  with  all  its  stores,  it 
•would  be  the  arsenal  of  the  rebellion.  At  Delhi  a  similar 
danger  had  been  averted  only  by  a  brave  officer  blowing  up 
the  arsenal  with  his  own  hand.  It  was  a  matter  of  the 
utmost  moment  to  destroy  the  fort  and  yet  to  save  the 
soldiers  in  it.  The  only  hope  of  keeping  up  any  defence  was 
to  unite  the  two  feeble  garrisons.  But  they  were  more  than 
half  a  mile  apart,  and  each  beleaguered  by  watchful  enemies. 
Sir  Henry  Lawrence  signalled  to  the  officer  in  command  : 
"  Blow  up  the  fort,  and  come  to  the  Residency  at  twelve 
o'clock  to-night.  Bring  your  treasure  and  guns,  and  destroy 
the  remainder."  This  movement  could  be  executed  only  by 
the  greatest  secrecy.  But  the  order  was  promptly  obeyed. 
At  midnight  the  little  band  filed  silently  out  of  the  gates, 
and  stole  with  muffled  steps  along  a  retired  path,  almost 
within  reach  of  the  guns  of  the  enemies,  who  discovered  the 
movement  only  when  they  were  safe  in  the  Residency,  and 
the  fuse  which  had  been  lighted  at  the  fort  reached  the 
magazine,  and  exploding  two  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  of 
gunpowder,  blew  the  massive  walls  into  the  air. 

But  the  siege  was  only  just  begun.  Inside  the  Residency 
•were  collected  about  two  thousand  two  hundred  souls,  of 
"whom  over  five  hundred  were  women  and  children.  Only 
about  six  hundred  were  English  soldiers,  and  seven  or  eight 
hundred  natives  who  had  remained  faithful,  held  to  their  al- 


228  THE   NATIVE   SOLDIERS. 

legiance  by  the  personal  ascendancy  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence.* 
There  were  also  some  three  hundred  civilians,  who,  though 
unused  to  arms,  willingly  took  part  in  the  defence.  Thus 
all  together  the  garrison  did  not  exceed  seventeen  hundred 
men,  of  whom  many  were  disabled  by  sickness  and  wounds. 
The  force  of  the  besiegers  was  twenty  to  one.  There  is  in 
the  Indian  nature  a  strange  mixture  of  languor  and  ferocity, 
and  the  latter  was  aroused  by  the  prospect  of  vengeance  on  the 
English,  who  were  penned  up  where  they  could  not  escape, 
and  where  their  capture  was  certain ;  and  every  Sepoy  wished 
to  be  in  at  the  death.  Under  the  attraction  of  such  a  pros- 
pect it  is  said  that  the  besieging  force  rose  to  fifty  thousand 
men.  Many  of  the  natives,  who  had  been  in  the  English 
service,  were  practised  artillerists,  and  trained  their  guns  on 
the  slender  defences  with  fatal  effect.  Advancing  over  the 
level  ground,  they  drew  their  lines  nearer  and  nearer,  till 
their  riflemen  picked  off  the  soldiers  serving  in  the  battei-ies. 
Three  times  they  made  a  breach  by  exploding  mines  under 
the  walls,  and  endeavored  to  carry  the  place  by  storm.     But 

*  As  the  historian  of  the  mutiny  has  frequent  occasion  to  speak  of 
the  treachery  of  the  Sepoys,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  to  this 
there  were  splendid  exceptions;  that  some  were  "found  faithful 
among  the  faithless."  Even  in  the  regiments  that  mutinied  there 
were  some  who  were  not  carried  away  by  the  general  madness ;  and, 
when  the  little  remnant  of  English  soldiers  retreated  into  the  Resi- 
dency, these  loyal  natives  went  with  them,  and  shared  all  the  dan- 
gers and  hardships  of  the  siege.  Even  after  it  was  begun,  they  were 
exposed  to  every  temptation  to  seduce  them  from  their  allegiance ; 
for  as  the  Unes  of  the  besiegers  drew  closer  to  the  Residency  and 
hemmed  it  in  on  every  side,  the  assailants  were  so  near  that  they 
could  talk  with  those  within  over  the  palisades  of  the  intrench- 
ments,  and  the  Sepoys  appealed  to  their  late  fellow-soldiers  by 
threats,  and  taunts,  and  promises ;  by  pride  of  race  and  of  caste ;  by 
their  love  of  country  and  of  their  religion,  to  betray  the  garrison.. 
But  not  a  man  deserted  his  post.  Hundreds  were  killed  in  the  siege, 
and  their  blood  mingled  with  that  of  their  English  companions-in- 
arms.    History  does  not  record  a  more  noble  instance  of  fidelity. 


DEATH   OF   8IE   HENKT  LAWRENCE.  229 

then  rose  high  the  unconquerable  English  spirit.  They  ex- 
pected to  die,  but  they  were  determined  to  sell  their  lives 
dearly.  When  the  alarm  of  these  attacks  reached  the  hospi- 
tal, the  sick  and  wounded  crawled  out  of  their  beds  and 
threw  away  their  crutches  to  take  their  place  at  the  guns ; 
or  if  they  could  not  stand,  lay  down  flat  on  their  faces  and 
fired  through  the  holes  made  for  musketry. 

But  brave  as  were  the  defenders,  the  long  endurance  told 
upon  them.  They  were  worn  out  with  watching,  and  their 
ranks  grew  thinner  day  by  day.  Those  who  were  killed 
were  carried  oflf  in  the  arms  of  their  companions,  who  gathered 
at  midnight  for  their  burial  in  some  lonely  and  retired  spot, 
and  while  the  chaplain  in  a  low  voice  read  the  service,  the 
survivors  stood  around  the  grave,  thinking  how  soon  their 
turn  would  come,  the  gloom  of  the  night  in  fit  harmony  with 
the  dark  thoughts  that  filled  their  breasts. 

But  darker  than  any  night  was  the  day  when  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence  fell.  He  was  the  beloved,  the  adored  commander. 
**  While  he  lived,"  said  our  informant,  "  we  all  felt  safe." 
But  exposing  himself  too  much,  he  was  struck  by  a  shell. 
Those  around  him  lifted  him  up  tenderly  and  carried  him 
away  to  the  house  of  the  surgeon  of  the  garrison,  where  two 
days  after  he  died.  When  all  was  over  "  they  did  not  dare 
to  let  the  soldiers  know  that  he  was  dead,"  lest  they  should 
give  up  the  struggle.  But  he  lived  long  enough  to  inspire 
them  with  his  unconquerable  spirit. 

He  died  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  for  nearly  three  months 
the  siege  went  on  without  change,  the  situation  becoming 
every  day  more  desperate.  It  was  the  hottest  season  of  the 
year,  and  the  sun  blazed  down  fiercely  into  their  little  camp, 
aggravating  the  sickness  and  suffering,  till  they  longed  for 
death,  and  were  glad  when  they  could  find  the  grave. 
"  When  my  daughter  was  struck  down  by  a  fragment  of  a 
shell  that  fell  on  the  floor,  she  did  not  ask  to  live.  She 
might  have  been  saved  if  she  had  been  where  she  could  have 


230  FIEST  ATTEMPT  OF  HAVELOCK  TO  RELIEVE  LUCKNOW. 

had  careful  nursing.  But  there  was  no  proper  food  to  nour- 
ish the  strength  of  the  sick,  and  so  she  sunk  away,  feeling 
that  it  was  better  to  die  than  to  live." 

But  still  they  would  not  yield  to  despair.  Havelock  had 
taken  Cawnpore,  though  he  came  too  late  to  save  the  English 
from  massacre,  and  was  straining  every  nerve  to  collect  a 
force  suflScient  to  relieve  Lucknow.  As  soon  as  he  could 
muster  a  thousand  men  he  crossed  the  Ganges,  and  began  his 
march.  The  movement  was  known  to  the  little  garrison, 
and  kept  up  their  hopes.  A  faithful  native,  who  acted  as  a 
spy  throughout  the  siege,  went  to  and  fro,  disguising  himself, 
and  crept  through  the  lines  in  the  night,  and  got  inside  the 
Residency,  and  told  them  relief  was  coming.  "  He  had  seen 
the  general,  and  said  he  was  a  little  man  with  white  hair," 
who  could  be  no  other  than  Havelock.  Word  was  sent  back 
that,  on  approaching  the  city,  rockets  should  be  sent  up  to 
notify  the  garrison.  Night  after  night  officers  and  men 
gazed  toward  the  west  for  the  expected  signal,  till  their 
hearts  grew  sick  as  the  night  passed  and  there  was  no  sign. 
Deliverance  was  to  come,  but  not  yet. 

Havelock  found  that  he  had  attempted  the  impossible. 
His  force  was  but  a  handful,  compared  with  the  hosts  of  his 
enemies.  Even  nature  appeared  to  be  against  him.  It  was 
the  hot  and  rainy  season,  when  it  seemed  impossible  to  march 
over  the  plains  of  India.  Cannon  had  to  be  di-awn  by  bul- 
locks over  roads  and  across  fields,  where  they  sank  deep  in 
mud.  Men  had  to  march  and  fight  now  in  the  broiling  sun, 
and  now  in  Hoods  of  rain.  ''  In  the  full  midday  heat  of  the 
worst  season  of  the  year,  did  our  troops  start.  The  sun 
struck  down  with  frightful  force.  At  every  step  a  man 
reeled  out  of  the  ranks,  and  threw  himself  fainting  by  the 
side  of  the  road ;  the  calls  for  water  were  incessant  all  along 
the  line."  "  During  the  interval  between  the  torrents  of  rain, 
the  sun's  rays  were  so  overpowering  that  numbers  of  the 
men  were   smitten  down  and   died."       But  the    survivors 


HE   TUBNS   AKD   DEFEATS    NANA    SAHIB.  231 

closed  up  their  ranks  and  kept  their  face  to  the  foe.  T^eir 
spirit  was  magnificent.  Death  had  lost  its  terrors  for  them, 
and  they  made  light  of  hardships  and  dangers.  When  faint- 
ing with  heat,  if  they  found  a  little  dirty  water  by  the  road- 
side "it  was  like  nectar."  Aft^r  marching  all  day  in  the 
rain,  they  would  lie  down  in  the  soaking  mud,  and  grasp  their 
guns,  and  wrap  their  coats  around  them,  and  sleep  soundly. 
Says  an  officer : 

*'  August  5th  we  marched  toward  Lncknow  nine  miles  and  then 
encamped  on  a  large  plain  for  the  night.  You  must  bear  in  miad 
that  we  had  no  tents  with  us,  they  are  not  allowed,  so  every  day  we 
were  exposed  to  the  burning  sun  and  to  the  rain  and  dew  by  night. 
No  baggage  or  beds  were  allowed  ;  but  the  soldier  wrapped  his  cloak 
around  him,  grasped  his  musket  and  went  to  sleep,  and  soundly  we 
slept  too.  My  Arab  horse  served  me  as  a  pillow,  I  used  to  lie  down 
alongside  of  him,  with  my  head  on  his  neck,  and  he  never  moved 
with  me  except  now  and  then  to  lick  my  hand."  But  he  adds,  "  We 
found  that  it  was  impossible  to  proceed  to  Lucknow,  for  our  force 
was  too  small — for  though  we  were  a  brave  little  band,  and  could 
fight  to  Lucknow,  yet  we  could  not  compel  them  to  raise  the  siege 
when  we  got  there.' 

Another  enemy  also  had  appeared.  Cholera  had  broken 
out  in  the  camp ;  eleven  men  died  in  one  day.  The  Rebels 
too  were  rising  behind  them.  As  soon  as  Havelock  crossed 
the  Ganges  they  began  to  gather  in  his  rear.  Nana  Sahib 
was  mustering  a  force  and  threatened  Cawnpore.  Thus  beset 
behind  and  before,  Havelock  turned  and  marched  against  the 
Mahratta  chief,  and  sent  him  flying  towards  Delhi.  In  read- 
ing the  account  of  these  marches  and  battles,  it  is  delightful 
to  see  the  spirit  between  the  commander  and  his  men.  After 
this  victory,  as  he  rode  along  the  lines,  they  cheered  him 
vehemently.  He  returned  their  salute,  but  said,  "  Don't 
cheer  me,  my  lads,  you  did  it  all  yourselves."  Such  men, 
fighting  together,  were  invincible. 

In  September  Havelock  had  collected  2,700  men,  and 
again  set  out  for  Lucknow.    Three  days  they  marched  ''  under 


232    SECOND  ATTEMPT — FIGHTING    THROUGH   THE   CITY. 

a  deluge  of  rain."  But  their  eyes  were  "  steadfastly  set " 
towards  the  spot  where  their  countrymen  were  in  peril,  and 
they  cared  not  for  hardships  and  dangers.  The  garrison  was 
apprised  of  their  coming,  and  waited  with  feverish  anxiety. 
In  the  relieving  force  was  a  regiment  of  Highlanders,  and  if 
no  crazy  woman  could  put  her  ears  to  the  ground  (according 
to  the  romantic  story  so  often  told)  and  hear  the  pibroch, 
and  shout  "  The  Campbells  are  coming,"  they  knew  that  those 
brave  Scots  never  turned  back.  As  they  drew  near  the  city 
over  the  Cawnpore  road,  they  found  that  it  was  mined  to 
blow  them  up.  Instantly  they  wheeled  off,  and  marched 
round  the  city,  and  came  up  on  the  other  side.  Capturing 
the  Alumbagh,  one  of  the  royal  residences,  which,  sur- 
rounded bj'  a  wall,  was  easily  converted  into  a  temporary 
fortress,  Havelock  left  here  his  heavy  baggage  and  stores  of 
ammunition,  with  an  immense  array  of  elephants  and  camels 
and  horses  ;  and  all  his  sick  and  wounded,  and  the  whole  train 
of  camp-followers;  and  three  hundred  men,  with  four  guns 
to  defend  it.  Thus  "  stripped  for  the  fight,"  he  began  his 
attack  on  the  city.  It  was  two  miles  to  the  Hesidency,  and 
every  step  the  English  had  to  fight  their  way  through  the 
streets.  The  battle  began  in  the  morning,  and  lasted  all 
day.  It  was  a  desperate  attempt  to  force  their  way  through 
a  great  city,  where  every  man  was  an  enemy,  and  they  were 
fired  at  from  almost  every  house.  "  Our  advance  was 
through  streets  of  flat-roofed  and  loop-holed  houses,  each 
forming  a  separate  fortress."  Our  informant  told  us  of 
the  frenzy  in  the  Residency  when  they  heard  the  sound  of 
the  guns.  "  The  Campbells  were  coming  "  indeed  !  Some- 
times the  firing  lulled,  and  it  seemed  as  if  they  were  driven 
back.  Then  it  rose  again,  and  came  nearer  and  nearer. 
How  the  tide  of  battle  ebbed  and  flowed,  is  well  told  in 
the  narratives  of  those  who  were  actors  in  the  scenes  : 

"  Throughout  the  night  of  the  24th  great  agitation  and  alarm  had 
prevailed  in  the  city ;  and,  as  morning  advanced,  increased  and  rapid 


THE   HIGHLANDEE8   COMING   IN.  233 

movements  of  men  and  horses,  gave  evidence  of  the  excited  state  of 
the  rebel  force.  At  noon,  increasing  noise  proclaimed  that  street 
fighting  was  growing  more  fierce  in  the  distance  ;  but  from  the  Resi- 
dency nought  but  the  smoke  from  the  fire  of  the  combatants  could 
be  discerned.  As  the  afternoon  advanced,  the  sounds  came  nearer 
and  nearer,  and  then  we  heard  the  sharp  crack  of  rifles  mingled  with 
the  flash  of  musketry ;  the  well-known  uniforms  of  British  soldiers 
were  next  discerned." 

A  lady  who  was  in  the  Residency,  and  has  written  a  Diary 
of  the  Siege,  thus  describes  the  coming  in  of  the  EngHsh 
troops : 

"Never  shall  I  forget  the  moment  to  the  latest  day  Hive.  We 
had  no  idea  they  were  so  near,  and  were  breathing  the  air  in  the 
portico  as  usual  at  that  hour,  speculating  when  they  might  be  in ; 
when  suddenly  just  at  dusk,  we  heard  a  very  sharp  fire  of  musketry 
close  by,  and  then  a  tremendous  cheering.  An  instant  aft -r,  the 
sound  of  bagpipes — then  soldiers  running  up  the  road — our  compound 
and  veranda  filled  with  our  deliverers,  and  all  of  us  shaking  hands 
frantically,  and  exchanging  fervent '  God  bless  you's '  with  the  gallant 
men  and  officers  of  the  78th  Highlanders.  Sir  James  Outram  and 
staff  were  the  next  to  come  in,  and  the  state  of  joyfvd  confusion  and 
excitement  was  beyond  all  description.  The  big,  rough-bearded 
soldiers  were  seizing  the  little  children  out  of  our  arms,  kissing 
them,  with  tears  rolling  down  their  cheeks,  and  thanking  God 
they  had  come  in  time  to  save  them  from  the  fate  of  those  at  Cawn- 
pore.  We  were  all  rushing  about  to  give  the  poor  fellows  drinks  of 
water,  for  they  were  perfectly  exhausted ;  and  tea  was  made  down 
in  the  Tye-khana,  of  which  a  large  party  of  tired,  thirsty  officers  par- 
took, without  milk  or  sugar.  We  had  nothing  to  give  them  to  eat. 
Every  one's  tongue  seemed  going  at  once  with  so  much  to  ask  and  to 
tell ;  and  the  faces  of  utter  strangers  beamed  upon  each  other  like 
those  of  dearest  friends  and  brothers." 

It  was  indeed  a  great  deliverance,  but  the  danger  was  not 
over.  Of  all  that  were  in  the  Residency  when  the  siege 
began,  three  mpnths  before,  more  than  half  were  gone.  Out  of 
twenty-two  hundred  but  nine  hundred  were  left,  and  of  these 
less  than  one-half  were  fighting  men.  Even  with  the  reinforce- 
ment of  Havelock  the  garrison  was  still  far  too  small  to  hold 


234  ARRIVAL   OF   SIR   COLIN    CAMPBELL. 

such  a  position  in  the  midst  of  a  city  of  such  a  population. 
The  siege  went  on  for  two  months  longer.  The  final  relief  did 
not  come  till  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  arriving  with  a  larger  force, 
again  fought  his  way  through  the  citj'-.  The  atrocities  of  the 
Sepoys  had  produced  such  a  feeling  that  he  could  hardly  re- 
strain his  soldiers.  Remembering  the  murders  and  massacres 
of  their  countrymen  and  countrywomen,  they  fought  with  a 
savage  fury.  In  one  walled  enclosure,  which  they  carried  by 
storm,  were  two  thousand  Sepoys,  and  they  killed  every  man  ! 

Even  then  the  work  was  not  completed.  Scarcely  had  Sir 
Colin  Campbell  entered  the  Residency  before  he  decided  upon 
its  evacuation.  Again  the  movement  was  executed  at  mid- 
night, in  silence  and  in  darkness.  While  the  watch-fires 
were  kept  burning  to  deceive  the  enemy,  the  men  filed  out  of 
the  gates,  with  the  women  and  children  in  the  centre  of  the 
column,  and  moving  softly  and  quickly  through  a  narrow 
lane,  in  the  morning  they  were  several  miles  from  the  city, 
in  a  strong  position,  which  made  them  safe  from  attack. 

The  joy  of  this  hour  of  deliverance  was  saddened  by  the  death 
of  Havelock.  He  had  passed  through  all  the  dangers  of  bat- 
tle and  siege,  only  to  die  at  last  of  disease,  brought  on  by  the 
hardships  and  exposures  of  the  last  few  months.  But  his  work 
was  done.  He  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  die.  To  his  friend, 
Sir  James  Outram,  who  came  to  see  him,  he  stretched  out  his 
hand  and  said  :  "  For  more  than  forty  yeai's  I  have  so  ruled 
my  life,  that  when  death  came,  I  might  face  it  without  fear." 

The  garrison  was  saved,  but  the  city  was  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  Rebels,  who  were  as  defiant  as  ever.  It  was  some 
months  before  Sir  Colin  Campbell  gathered  forces  sufficient 
for  the  final  and  crushing  blow.  Indeed  it  was  not  till  win- 
ter that  he  had  collected  a  really  formidable  army.  Then  he 
moved  on  the  city  in  force  and  carried  it  by  storm.  Two 
days  of  terrible  fighting  gave  him  the  mastery  of  Lucknow, 
and  the  British  flag  was  once  more  raised  over  the  capital  of 
Oude,  where  it  has  floated  in  triumph  unto  this  day. 


"here  lies  one  who  tried  to  do  his  duty."  235 

But  the  chief  interest  gathers  about  the  earlier  defence. 
The  siege  of  Lucknow  is  one  of  the  most  thrilling  events  in 
modern  history,  and  may  well  be  remembered  with  pride  by 
all  who  took  part  in  it.  A  few  weeks  before  we  were  here 
the  Prince  of  Wales  had  made  his  visit  to  Lucknow,  and  re- 
quested that  the  survivors  of  the  siege  might  be  presented  to 
him.  Mr.  Mudge  was  present  at  the  interview,  and  told  me 
he  had  never  witnessed  a  more  affecting  scene  than  when 
these  brave  old  soldiers,  the  wrecks  of  the  war,  some  of  them 
bearing  the  marks  of  their  wounds,  came  up  to  the  Prince, 
and  received  his  warmest  thanks  for  their  courage  and  fidel- 

These  heroic  memories  were  fresh  in  mind  as  we  took 
our  morning  walk  in  Lucknow,  along  the  very  street  by 
■which  Havelock  had  fought  his  way  through  the  city. 
The  Residency  is  now  a  ruin,  its  walls  shattered  by  shot  and 
shell.  But  the  ruins  are  overrun  with  vines  and  creeping 
plants,  and  are  beautiful  even  in  their  decay.  With  sad  in- 
terest we  visited  the  spot  where  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  was 
struck  by  the  fatal  shell,  and  the  cemetery  in  which  he  is 
buried.  He  was  a  Christian  soldier  and  before  his  death  re- 
ceived the  communion.  He  asked  that  no  eulogy  might  be 
written  on  his  tomb,  but  only  these  words  :  "  Here  lies 
Henry  Lawrence,  who  tried  to  do  his  duty.  May  God  have 
mercy  on  his  soul."  This  dying  utterance  is  inscribed  on  the 
plain  slab  of  marble  that  covers-his  dust.  It  is  enough.  No 
epitaph  could  say  more.  As  I  stood  there  and  I'ead  these 
simple  words  and  thought  of  the  noble  dead,  my  eyes  were 
full  of  tears.  With  such  a  consciousness  of  duty  done,  who 
could  fear  to  die  ?  How  well  do  these  words  express  that 
which  should  be  the  highest  end  of  human  ambition.  Happy 
will  it  be  for  any  man  of  whom,  when  he  has  passed  from 
the  world,  it  can  with  truth  be  written  above  his  grave, 
**Here  lies  one  who  tried  to  do  his  duty ! " 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

THE   ENGLISH   EULE    IN    INDIA. 

In  reviewing  the  terrible  scenes  of  the  Mutiny,  one  can- 
not help  asking  whether  such  scenes  are  likely  to  occur  again  ; 
whether  there  will  ever  be  another  Rebellion;  and  if  so, 
■what  may  be  the  chance  of  its  success  ?  Will  the  people  of 
India  wish  to  rise  ?  How  are  they  affected  towards  the 
English  government  ?  Are  they  loyal  ?  We  can  only 
answer  these  questions  by  asking  another  :  Who  are  meant 
by  the  people  of  India  ?  The  population  is  divided  into 
different  classes,  as  into  different  castes.  The  great  mass  of 
the  people  are  passive.  Accustomed  to  being  handed  over 
from  one  native  ruler  to  a^pther,  they  care  not  who  holds 
the  power.  He  is  the  best  ruler  who  oppresses  them  the 
least.  But  among  the  high  caste  Brahmins,  and  especially 
those  who  have  been  educate<l  (among  whom  alone  there  is 
anything  like  political  life  in  India),  there  is  a  deep-seated 
disaffection  towards  the  English  rule.  This  is  a  natural  re- 
sidt  of  an  education  which  enlarges  their  ideas  and  raises 
their  ambition.  Some  of  the  Bengalees,  for  example,  are 
highly  educated  men,  and  it  is  but  natural  that,  as  they  in- 
crease in  knowledge,  they  should  think  that  they  are  quite 
competent  to  govern  themselves.  Hence  their  dislike  to  the 
foreign  power  that  is  imposed  upon  them.  Not  that  they 
have  any  jiersonal  wrongs  to  avenge.  It  may  be  that  they 
are  attached  to  English  men,  while  they  do  not  like  the  Eng- 
lish rule.  Every  man  whose  mind  is  elevated  by  knowledge 
and  reflection,  wishes  to  be  his  own  master ;  and  if  ruled  at 


GUARDING   AGAINST   A   SECOND   MUTINT.  237 

all,  he  likes  to  be  ruled  by  those  of  his  own  blood  and  race 
and  language.  This  class  of  men,  whether  Hindoos  or  Mo- 
hammedans, however  courteous  they  may  be  to  the  English 
in  their  personal  or  business  relations,  are  not  thereby  con- 
verted to  loyalty,  any  more  than  they  are  converted  to 
Christianity. 

But  however  strong  their  dislike,  it  is  not  very  probable 
that  it  should  take  shape  in  organized  rebellion,  and  still  less 
likely  that  any  such  movement  should  succeed.  The  Eng- 
lish are  now  guarded  against  it  as  never  before.  In  the 
Mutiny  they  were  taken  at  every  possible  disadvantage.  The 
country  was  almost  stripped  of  English  troops.  Only  20,000 
men  were  left,  and  these  scattered  far  apart,  and  surrounded 
by  three  times  their  number  of  Sepoys  in  open  rebellion. 
Thus  even  the  militaiy  organization  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  If  with  all  these  things  against  them,  English  skill 
and  courage  and  discipline  triumphed  at  last,  can  it  ever  be 
piit  to  such  a  test  again  ? 

When  the  Mutiny  was  over,  and  the  English  had  time  to 
reflect  on  the  danger  they  had  escaped,  they  set  themselves 
to  repair  their  defences,  so  that  they  should  never  more  be 
in  such  peril.  The  first  thing  was  to  reorganize  the  army, 
to  weed  out  the  elements  of  disaffection  and  rebellion,  and  to 
see  that  the  power  was  henceforth  in  safe  hands.  The  Eng- 
lish troops  were  tripled  in  force,  till  now,  instead  of  twenty, 
they  number  sixty  thousand  men.  The  native  regiments 
were  carefully  chosen  from  those  only  who  had  proved  faith- 
ful, such  as  the  Goorkas,  who  fought  so  bravely  at  Delhi, 
and  other  hill  tribes  of  the  Himalayas  ;  and  the  Punjaubees, 
who  are  splendid  horsemen,  and  make  the  finest  cavalry. 
But  not  even  these,  brave  and  loyal  as  they  had  been,  were 
mustered  into  any  regiment  except  cavalry  and  infantry. 
Not  a  single  native  soldier  was  left  in  the  artillery.  In  the 
Mutiny,  if  the  Sepoys  had  not  been  practised  gunners,  they 
would  not  have  been  so  formidable  at  the  siege  of  Lucknow 


238  STKONQ   POSITION   OF   ENGLAND. 

and  elsewhere.  Now  they  are  stripped  of  this  powerful  arm, 
and  in  any  future  rising  they  cotdd  do  nothing  against  forti- 
fied places,  nor  against  an  array  in  the  field,  equipped  with 
modern  artillery.  In  reserving  this  arm  of  the  service  to 
themselves,  the  English  have  kept  the  decisive  weapon  in 
their  own  hands. 

Then  it  is  hardly  too  miich  to  say  that  by  the  present  com- 
plete system  of  railroads,  the  English  force  is  quadrupled,  as 
tliis  gives  them  the  means  of  concentrating  rapidly  at  any 
exposed  point. 

To  these  elements  of  military  strength  must  be  added  the 
greater  organizing  power  of  Englishmen.  The  natives  make 
good  soldiers.  They  are  brave,  and  freely  expose  themselves 
in  battle.  In  the  Sikh  war  the  Pimjaubees  foxight  desper- 
ately. So  did  the  Sepoys  in  the  Mutiny.  But  the  moment 
the  plan  of  attack  was  disarranged,  they  were  "  all  at  sea." 
Their  leaders  had  no  "  head  "  for  quick  combinations  in  pres- 
ence of  an  enemy.  As  it  has  been,  so  it  will  be.  In  any 
future  contests  it  will  be  not  only  the  English  sword,  Eng- 
lish guns,  and  English  discipline,  but  more  than  all,  the  Eng- 
lish brains,  that  will  get  them  the  victory. 

Such  is  the  position  of  England  in  India.  She  holds  a 
citadel  girt  round  with  defences  on  every  side,  with  strong 
walls  without,  and  brave  hearts  within.  I  have  been  round 
about  her  towers,  and  marked  well  her  bulwarks,  and  I  see 
not  why,  so  guarded  and  defended,  she  may  not  hold  her 
Indian  Emjnre  for  generations  to  come. 

But  there  is  a  question  back  of  all  this.  Might  does  not 
make  right.  A  government  may  be  established  in  power 
that  is  not  established  in  justice.  It  may  be  that  the  Eng- 
lish are  to  remain  masters  of  India,  yet  withou.t  any  right  to 
that  splendid  dominion.  As  we  read  the  thrilling  stories  of 
the  Mutiny,  it  is  almost  with  a  guilty  feeling  (as  if  it  betray- 
ed a  want  of  sympathy  with  all  that  heroism),  that  we  admit 
any  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  that  feai-ful  tragedy.     But  how 


BUT  MIGHT  DOES  NOT  MAKE  EIGHT.       239 

came  all  this  blood  to  be  shed  ?  Has  not  England  something 
to  answer  for  ?  If  she  has  sufiered  terribly,  did  she  not  pay 
the  penalty  of  her  own  grasping  ambition  ?  Nations,  like 
individuals,  often  bring  curses  on  themselves,  the  retribution 
of  their  oppressions  and  their  crimes.  The  fact  that  men 
fight  bravely,  is  no  proof  that  they  fight  in  a  just  cause. 
Nay,  the  very  admiration  that  we  feel  for  their  courage  in 
danger  and  in  death,  but  increases  our  horror  at  the  "  politi- 
cal necessity  "  which  requii'es  them  to  be  sacrificed.  If  Eng- 
land by  her  own  wicked  policy  provoked  tlie  Mutiny,  is  she 
not  gviilty  of  the  blood  of  her  children  ?  Thomas  Jefierson, 
tlxough  a  slaveholder  himself,  used  to  say  that  in  a  war  of 
races  every  attribute  of  Almighty  God  would  take  part  with 
the  slave  against  his  master  ;  and  Englishmen  may  well  ask 
whether  in  the  conflict  which  has  come  once,  and  may  come 
again,  they  can  be  quite  svire  that  Infinite  Justice  will  always 
be  on  their  side. 

In  these  sentences  I  have  put  the  questions  which  occur  to 
an  American  travelling  in  India.  Wherever  he  goes,  he  sees 
the  English  flag  flying  on  every  fortress — the  sign  that  India 
is  a  conquered  country.  The  people  who  inhabit  the  country 
are  not  those  who  govern  it.  With  his  Republican  ideas  of 
the  right  of  every  nation  to  govern  itself,  he  cannot  help  ask- 
ing :  What  business  have  the  English  in  India  ?  What  right 
have  a  handful  of  Englishmen,  so  far  from  their  native  island, 
in  another  hemisphere,  to  claim  dominion  over  two  hundred 
millions  of  men  ? 

As  an  American,  I  have  not  the  bias  of  national  feeling 
to  lead  me  to  defend  and  justify  the  English  rule  in  India ; 
though  I  confess  that  when,  far  off  here  in  Asia,  among  these 
dusky  natives,  I  see  a  white  face,  and  hear  my  own  mother 
tongue,  I  feel  that  "  blood  is  thicker  than  water,"  and  am 
ready  to  take  part  with  my  kindred  against  all  comers.  Even 
Americans  cannot  but  feel  a  pride  in  seeing  men  of  their  own 
race  masters  of  such  a  kingdom  in  the  East.     But  this  pride 


240  HAS   ENGLAND    ANY   JRIGHT   IN    INDIA? 

of  empire  will  not  extinguish  in  any  fair  mind  the  sense  of 
justice  and  humanity. 

"  Have  the  English  any  right  in  India  ?  "  If  it  be  "  a  ques- 
tion of  titles,"  we  may  find  it  difficult  to  prove  our  own  right 
in  America,  from  which  we  have  crowded  out  the  original 
inhabitants.  None  of  us  can  claim  a  title  from  the  father  of 
the  human  race.  All  new  settlers  in  a  country  are  "  invad- 
ers." But  public  interest  and  the  common  law  of  the  world 
demand  that  power,  once  establislied,  should  be  recognized. 

According  to  the  American  principle,  that  "  all  just  gov- 
ernment derives  its  authority  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned," there  never  was  a  just  government  in  India,  for  the 
consent  of  the  governed  was  never  obtained.  The  people  of 
India  were  never  asked  to  give  their  "  consent "  to  the  gov- 
ernment established  over  them.  They  were  ruled  by  native 
princes,  who  were  as  absolute,  and  in  general  as  cruel  tyrants, 
as  ever  crushed  a  wretched  population. 

No  doubt  in  planting  themselves  in  India,  the  English  have 
often  used  the  rights  of  conquerors.  No  one  has  denounced 
their  usurpations  and  oppressions  more  than  their  own  histo- 
rians, such  as  Mill  and  Macaulay.  The  latter,  in  his  eloquent 
reviews  of  the  lives  of  Clive  and  Warren  Hastings,  has 
spoken  with  just  severity  of  the  crimes  of  tliose  extraordinary 
but  unscrupulous  men.  For  such  acts  no  justification  can  be 
pleaded  whatever.  But  as  between  Clive  and  Surajah  Dow- 
lah,  the  rule  of  the  former  was  infinitely  better.  It  would  be 
carrying  the  doctrine  of  self-government  to  an  absurd  extent, 
to  imagine  that  the  monster  who  shut  up  English  prisoners  in 
the  Black  Hole  had  any  right  which  was  to  be  held  sacred. 
The  question  of  right,  therefore,  is  not  between  the  English 
and  the  people  of  India,  but  between  the  English  and  the 
native  princes.  Indeed  England  comes  in  to  protect  the  peo- 
ple against  the  princes,  when  it  gives  them  one  strong  master 
in  place  of  a  hundred  petty  tyrants.  The  King  of  Oude  col- 
lecting his  taxes  by  soldiers,  is  but  an  instance  of  that  oppres- 


HOW   SHE   HAS   USED   HER  POWER.  241 

sion  and  cruelty  which  extended  all  over  India,  but  which  is 
now  brought  to  an  end. 

And  how  has  England  used  her  power  ?  At  first,  we  must 
confess,  with  but  little  of  the  feeling  of  responsibility  which 
should  accompany  the  possession  of  power.  Nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago,  Burke  (who  was  master  of  all  facts  relating  to  the 
history  of  India,  and  to  its  political  condition,  more  than  any 
other  man  of  his  time)  bitterly  arraigned  the  English  govern- 
ment for  its  cruel  neglect  of  that  great  dependency.  He  de- 
nounced his  countrymen,  the  agents  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, as  a  horde  of  plunderers,  worse  than  the  soldiers  of 
Tamerlane,  and  held  up  their  greedy  and  rapacioiis  adminis- 
tration to  the  scoi-n  of  mankind,  showing  that  they  had  left 
no  beneficent  monuments  of  their  power  to  compare  with 
those  of  the  splendid  reigns  of  the  old  Moguls.  In  a  speech 
in  Parliament  in  1783,  he  said: 

"England  has  erected  no  churches,  no  palaces,  no  hospitals,  no 
Bchools ;  England  has  built  no  bridges,  made  no  high  roads,  cut  no 
navigations,  dug  out  no  reservoirs.  Every  other  conqueror  of  every 
other  description  has  left  some  monument  either  of  State  or  benefi- 
cence behind  him.  Were  we  to  be  driven  out  of  India  this  day, 
nothing  would  remain  to  tell  that  it  had  been  possessed,  during  the 
inglorious  period  of  oiu:  dominion,  by  anything  better  than  the 
orang-outang  or  the  tiger," 

This  is  a  fearful  accusation.  What  answer  can  be  made 
to  it?  Has  there  been  any  change  for  the  better  since  the 
great  impeacher  ot  Warren  Hastings  went  to  his  grave? 
How  has  England  governed  India  since  that  day?  She 
has  not  undertaken  to  govern  it  like  a  Model  Republic. 
If  she  had,  her  rule  woidd  soon  have  come  to  an  end. 
She  has  not  given  the  Hindoos  universal  suffrage,  or  repre- 
sentation in  Parliament.  But  she  has  given  them  something 
better — Peace  and  Order  and  Law,  a  trinity  of  blessings  that 
they  never  had  before.  When  the  native  princes  ruled  in 
India,  they  were  constantly  at  war  among  themselves,  and 
11 


242  HAS   ESTABLISHED   PEACE   AND    ORDER. 

thus  overrunning  and  harassing  the  country.  Now  the  Eng- 
lish government  rules  everywhere,  and  Peace  reigns  from 
Cape  Comorin  to  the  Himalayas. 

Strange  to  say,  this  quietness  does  not  suit  some  of  the 
natives,  who  have  a  restless  longing  for  the  wild  lawlessness 
of  former  times.  A  missionary  was  one  day  explaining  to  a 
crowd  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  when  he  was  loughly  in- 
terrupted by  one  who  said,  "  I  know  what  is  original  sin:  it 
is  the  English  i-ule  in  India."  ''  You  ought  not  to  say  that," 
was  the  reply,  "  for  if  it  were  not  for  the  English  the  people 
of  the  next  village  would  make  a  raid  on  your  village,  and 
csLTvy  off  five  thousand  sheep."  But  the  other  was  not  to  be 
put  down  so,  and  answered  promptly,  '^  T should  like  that,  for 
then  we  would  make  a  raid  on  them  and  carry  off  ten  thou- 
sand !  "  This  was  a  blunt  way  of  putting  it,  but  it  expresses 
the  feeling  of  many  who  would  prefer  that  kind  of  wild  jus- 
tice which  2)revails  among  the  Tartar  hordes  of  Central  Asia 
to  a  state  of  profound  tranquility.  They  would  rather  have 
Asiatic  barbarism  than  European  civilization. 

With  peace  between  States,  England  has  established  order 
in  every  community.  It  has  given  protection  to  life  and 
property — a  sense  of  security  which  is  the  first  condition  of 
the  existence  of  human  society.  It  has  abolished  heathen 
customs  which  were  inhuman  and  cruel;  It  has  extirpated 
thuggism,  and  put  an  end  to  infanticide  and  the  burning  of 
widows.  This  was  a  work  of  immense  difiiculty,  because 
these  customs,  horrid  as  they  were,  were  supported  by  reli- 
gious fanaticism.  Mothers  cast  their  children  into  the  Ganges 
as  an  offering  to  the  gods ;  and  widows  counted  it  a  happy 
escape  from  the  sufferings  of  life  to  mount  the  fuueral  pile. 
Even  to  this  day  there  are  some  who  think  it  hard  that  they 
cannot  thxas  sacrifice  themselves. 

So  wedded  are  the  people  to  their  customs,  that  they  are 
very  jealous  of  the  interference  of  the  government,  when  it 
prohibits  any  of  their  practices  on  the  ground  of  humanity. 


ADMINISTEATION   OF   JUSTIC3E.  243 

Dr.  Newton,  of  Lahore,  the  venerable  missionary,  told  me 
that  he  knew  a  few  years  ago  a  fakii-,  a  priest  of  a  temple, 
who  had  grown  to  be  very  friendly  with  him.  One  day  the 
poor  man  came,  with  his  heart  full  of  trouble,  to  tell  his 
griefs.  He  had  a  complaint  against  the  government.  He 
said  that  Sir  John  Lawrence,  then  Governor  of  the  Punjaub, 
was  very  arbitrary.  And  why  ?  Because  he  wanted  to  bury 
himself  alive,  and  the  Governor  wouldn't  let  him  !  He  had 
got  to  be  a  very  old  man  (almost  a  hundred),  and  of  course 
must  soon  leave  this  world.  He  had  had  a  tomb  prepared  in 
the  groiuids  of  the  temple  (he  took  Dr.  Newton  to  see 
what  a  nice  place  it  was),  and  there  he  wished  to  Ke  down 
and  breathe  his  last.  With  the  Hindoos  it  is  an  act  of 
religious  merit  to  bury  one's  self  alive,  and  on  this  the  old  man 
had  set  his  heart.  If  he  could  do  this,  he  would  go  straight 
to  Paradise,  but  the  hard  English  Governor,  insensible  to 
such  considerations,  would  not  permit  it.  Was  it  not  too 
bad  that  he  could  not  be  allowed  to  go  to  heaven  in  his  own 
way? 

Breaking  up  these  old  barbarities — suicide,  infanticide, 
and  the  burning  of  widows — the  government  has  steadily 
aimed  to  introduce  a  better  system  for  the  administration  of 
justice,  in  which,  with  due  regard  to  Hindoo  customs  and 
prejudices,  shall  be  incorporated,  as  far  as  possible,  the  prin- 
ciples of  English  law.  For  twenty  years  the  ablest  men  that 
could  be  found  in  India  or  in  England,  have  been  engaged  in 
perfecting  an  elaborate  Indian  Code,  in  which  there  is  one 
law  for  prince  and  pariah.  What  must  be  the  effect  on  the 
Hindoo  mind  of  such  a  system,  founded  in  justice,  and  en- 
forced by  a  power  which  they  cannot  resist  ?  Such  laws 
administered  by  English  magistrates,  will  educate  the  Hin- 
doos to  the  idea  of  justice,  which,  outside  of  English  colonies, 
can  hardly  be  said  to  exist  in  Asia. 

The  English  are  the  Romans  of  the  modem  world.  Where- 
ever  the  Roman  legions  marched,  they  ruled  with  a  strong 


244  THE  GREAT  EOAD- BUILDERS. 

hand,  but  they  established  law  and  order,  the  first  conditions 
of  human  society.  So  with  the  English  in  all  their  Asiatic 
dependencies.  Wherever  they  come,  they  put  an  end  to 
anarchy,  and  give  to  all  men  that  sense  of  protection  and  se- 
curity, that  feeling  of  personal  safety — safety  both  to  life  and 
property — without  which  there  is  no  motive  to  human  effort, 
and  no  possibility  of  human  progress. 

The  English  are  like  the  Romans  in  another  feature  of  their 
administration,  in  the  building  of  roads.  The  Romans  were 
the  great  road-builders  of  antiquity.  Highways  which  be- 
gan at  Rome,  and  thus  radiated  from  a  common  centre,  led 
to  the  most  distant  provinces.  Not  only  in  Italy,  but  in 
Spain  and  Gaul  and  Germany,  did  the  ancient  masters  of  the 
world  leave  these  enduring  monuments  of  their  power.  Fol- 
lowing this  example,  England,  before  the  days  of  railroads, 
built  a  broad  macadamized  road  from  Calcutta  to  Peshawur, 
over  1,500  miles.  This  may  have  been  for  a  military  pur- 
pose ;  but  no  matter,  it  serves  the  ends  of  peace  more  than  of 
war.  It  becomes  a  great  avenue  of  commerce  ;  it  opens  com- 
munication between  distant  parts  of  India,  and  brings  to- 
gether men  of  different  races,  speaking  different  languages ; 
and  thus,  by  promoting  peaceful  and  friendly  intercourse,  it 
becomes  a  highway  of  civilization. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  great  road  in  this  country.  Every- 
where I  have  found  the  public  highways  in  excellent  condi- 
tion. Indeed  I  have  not  foiind  a  bad  road  in  India — not  one 
which  gave  me  such  a  "  shaking  up "  as  I  have  sometimes 
had  when  riding  over  the  "  corduroys  "  through  the  Western 
forests  of  America.  Around  the  large  towns  the  roads  ar,e 
especially  fine — broad  and  well  paved,  and  often  planted  with 
trees.  The  cities  are  embellished  with  parks,  like  cities  in 
England,  with  botanical  and  zoological  gardens.  The  streets 
are  kept  clean,  and  strict  sanitary  regulations  are  enforced — 
a  matter  of  the  utmost  moment  in  this  hot  climate,  and  in  a 
dense  population,  where  a  sudden  outbreak  of  cholera  would 


KAILE0AD8   IN  INDIA.  245 

sweep  off  thousands  in  a  few  days  or  hours.  The  streets  are 
well  lighted  and  well  policed,  so  that  one  may  go  about  at 
any  hour  of  day  or  night  with  as  much  safety  as  in  London 
or  New  York.  If  these  are  the  effects  of  foreign  rule,  even 
the  most  determined  grumbler  must  confess  that  it  has  proved 
a  material  and  substantial  benefit  to  the  people  of  India, 

Less  than  twenty  years  ago  the  internal  improvements  of 
India  received  a  sudden  and  enormous  development,  when  to 
the  building  of  roads  succeeded  that  of  railroads.  Lord  Dal- 
housie,  when  Governor-General,  had  projected  a  great  railroad 
system,  but  it  was  not  till  after  the  Mutiny,  and  perhaps  in 
consequence  of  the  lessons  learned  by  that  terrible  experience, 
that  the  work  was  undertaken  on  a  large  scale.  The  govei'n- 
ment  guaranteed  five  per  cent,  interest  for  a  term  of  years, 
and  the  capital  was  supplied  from  England.  Labor  was 
abundant  and  cheap,  and  the  works  were  pushed  on  with  un- 
relaxing  energy,  till  India  was  belted  from  Bombay  to  Cal- 
cutta, and  trunk  lines  were  running  up  and  down  the  coun 
try,  with  branches  to  every  large  city.  Thus,  to  English 
foresight  and  sagacity,  to  English  wealth  and  engineering 
skill,  India  owes  that  vast  system  of  railroads  which  now 
spreads  over  the  whole  peninsula. 

In  no  part  of  the  world  are  railroads  more  used  than  in 
India.  Of  course  the  first-class'carriages  are  occupied  chiefly 
by  English  travellers,  or  natives  of  high  rank ;  and  the  sec- 
ond-class by  those  less  wealthy.  But  there  are  trains  for  the 
people,  run  at  very  low  fares.  There  are  huge  cars,  h\ii\t 
with  two  stories,  and  carrying  a  hundred  passengers  each,  and 
these  two-deckers  are  often  very  closely  packed.  The  Hin- 
doos have  even  leai'ned  to  make  pilgrimages  by  steam,  and 
find  it  much  cheaper,  as  well  as  easier,  than  to  go  afoot. 
When  one  considers  the  long  journeys  they  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  undertake  under  the  burning  sun  of  India,  the 
amount  of  suffering  reKeved  by  a  mode  of  locomotion  so  cool 
and  swift  is  beyond  computation. 


24:6  CANALS    m    LNUIA. 

Will  anybody  tell  me  that  the  people  of  India,  if  left  alone, 
■would  have  built  their  own  railways  ?  Perhaps  in  the  course 
of  ages,  but  not  in  our  day.  The  Asiatic  nature  is  torpid 
and  slow  to  move,  and  cannot  rouse  itself  to  great  exertion. 
In  the  whole  Empire  of  China  there  is  not  a  railroad,  except 
at  Shanghai,  where  a  few  months  ago  was  opened  a  little 
"one-horse  concern,"  a  dozen  miles  long,  built  by  the  for- 
eigners for  the  convenience  of  that  English  settlement.  This 
may  show  how  rapid  would  have  been  the  progress  of  rail- 
roads in  India,  if  left  wholly  to  native  "  enterprise."  It 
would  have  taken  hundreds  of  years  to  accomplish  what  the 
English  have  wrought  in  one  generation. 

Nor  does  English  engineering  skill  expend  itself  on  rail- 
roads alone.  It  has  dug  canals  that  are  like  rivers  in  their 
length.  The  Ganges  Canal  in  Upper  India  is  a  work  equal 
to  our  Erie  Canal.  Other  canals  have  been  opened,  both  for 
commerce  and  for  irrigation.  The  latter  is  a  matter  vital  to 
India.  The  food  of  the  Hindoos  is  rice,  and  rice  cannot  be 
cultivated  except  in  fields  well  watered.  A  drought  in  the 
rice  fields  means  a  famine  in  the  province.  Such  a  calamity 
is  now  averted  in  many  places  by  this  artificial  irrigation. 
The  overflow  from  these  streams,  which  are  truly  "  fountains 
in  the  desert,"  has  kept  whole  districts  from  being  burnt  up, 
by  which  in  former  years  miWions  pei'ished  by  famine. 

While  thus  caring  for  the  material  comfort  and  safety  of  the 
people  of  India,  England  has  also  shown  regard  to  their  en- 
lightenment in  providing  a  magnificent  system  of  National 
Education.  Every  town  in  India  has  its  government  school, 
while  many  a  large  city  has  its  college  or  its  university.  In- 
deed, so  far  has  this  matter  of  education  been  carried,  that  I 
heard  a  fear  expressed  that  it  was  being  overdone — at  least  the 
higher  education — because  the  young  men  so  educated  were 
unfitted  for  anything  else  than  the  employ  of  the  government. 
All  minor  places  in  India  ai-e  filled  by  natives,  and  well 
filled  too.     But  thei-e  are  not  enough  for  all.     And  hence 


IMPKOVEMENTS    IN   THIS    GENERATION.  247 

many,  finding  no  profession  to  enter,  and  educated  above  the 
ordinary  occupations  of  n^itives,  are  left  stranded  on  the 
shore. 

These  great  changes  in  India,  these  schools  and  colleges, 
the  better  administration  of  the  laws,  and  these  vast  inter- 
nal improvements,  have  been  almost  wholly  the  work  of  the 
generation  now  living.  In  the  first  century  of  its  dominion 
the  English  rule  perhaps  desei-ved  the  bitter  censure  of 
Burke,  but 

"  If  'twere  so,  it  were  a  grievous  fault, 
And  grievously  hath  Gsesar  answered  it." 

England  has  paid  for  the  misgoverament  of  India  in  the  blood 
of  her  children,  and  within  the  last  few  years  she  has  striven 
nobly  to  repair  the  errors  of  former  times.  Thus  one  gener- 
ation makes  atonement  for  the  wrongs  of  another.  She  has 
learned  that  justice  is  the  highest  wisdom,  and  the  truest 
political  economy.  The  change  is  due  in  part  to  the  constant 
pressure  of  the  Christian  sentiment  of  England  iipon  its  gov- 
ernment, whicliTias  compelled  justice  to  India,  and  wrought 
those  vast  changes  which  we  see  with  wonder  and  admiration. 
Thus  stretching  out  her  luighty  arm  over  India,  England 
rules  the  land  from  sea  to  sea.  1  say  not  that  she  rules  it  in 
absolute  righteousness — that  her  government  is  one  of  ideal 
perfection,  but  it  is  immeasurably  better  than  that  of  the  old 
native  tyi*ants  which  it  displaced.  It  at  least  respects  the 
forms  of  law,  and  while  it  establishes  peace,  it  endeavoi*s  also 
to  maintain  justice.  The  railroads  that  pierce  the  vast  inte- 
rior quicken  the  internal  commerce  of  the  country,  while  the 
■waters  that  are  caused  to  flow  over  the  rice-fields  of  Bengal 
abate  the  horrors  of  pestilence  and  famine.  Thus  England 
gives  to  her  Asiatic  empire  the  substantial  benefits  of  modern 
civilization ;  while  in  her  schools  and  colleges  she  brings  the 
subtle  Hindoo  mind  into  contact  with  the  science  and  learn- 
ing of  the  West.     At  so  many  points  does  this  foreign  rule 


24:8      WISH   THAT   ENGLISH   EXILE   SHOULD   CONTDSTUE. 

touch  the  very  life  of  India,  and  infuse  the  best  blood  of 
Europe  into  her  languid  veins. 

With  such  results  of  English  mle,  who  would  not  wish  that 
it  might  continue  ?  It  is  not  that  we  love  the  Hindoo  less, 
but  the  cause  of  humanity  more.  The  question  of  English 
rule  in  India  is  a  question  of  civilization  against  barbarism. 
These  are  the  two  forces  now  in  conflict  for  the  mastery  of 
Asia.  India  is  the  place  where  the  two  seas  meet.  Shall 
she  be  left  to  herself,  shut  up  between  her  seas  and  her  moun- 
tains ?  That  would  be  an  unspeakable  calamity,  not  only  to 
her  present  inhabitants,  but  to  unborn  millions.  I  believe  in 
modern  civilization,  as  I  believe  in  Chi-istianity.  These  are 
the  great  forces  which  are  to  conquer  the  world.  In  con- 
quering Asia,  they  will  redeem  it  and  raise  it  to  a  new  life. 
The  only  hope  of  Asia  is  from  Europe : 

"Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay;" 

and  the  only  hope  of  India  is  from  England.  So  whatever 
contests  may  yet  arise  for  the  control  of  this  vast  peninsula, 
with  its  two  hundred  millions  of  people,  our  sympathies  must 
always  be  against  Asiatic  barbarism,  and  on  the  side  of  Euro- 
pean civilization. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

MISSIONS    IN   INDIA — DO   MISSIONARIES   DO   ANY   GOOD  ? 

*'  Is  it  not  all  a  farce  ?  "  said  a  Major  in  the  Bengal  Staff 
Corps,  as  we  came  down  from  Upper  India.  "We  were  talk- 
ing of  Missions.  He  did  not  speak  of  them  with  hatred,  but 
only  with  contempt.  The  missionaries  "  meant  well,"  but 
they  were  engaged  in  an  enterprise  which  was  so  utterly 
hopeless,  that  no  man  in  his  senses  could  regard  it  as  other 
than  supreme  and  almost  incredible  folly.  In  this  he  spoke 
the  opinion  of  half  the  military  men  of  India.  They  have 
no  personal  dislike  to  missionaries — indeed  many  an  officer 
in  an  out-of-the-way  district,  who  has  a  missionary  family 
for  almost  his  only  neighbors,  will  acknowledge  that  they 
are  "  a  great  addition  to  the  English  society."  But  as  for 
their  doing  any  good,  as  an  officer  once  said  to  me  :  *'  They 
might  as  well  go  and  stand  on  the  shore  of  the  sea  and 
pi'each  to  the  fishes,  as  to  think  to  convert  the  Hindoos  !  " 
Their  success,  of  which  so  much  is  said  in  England  and 
America,  is  "  infinitesimally  small."  Some  even  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  the  missionaries  do  great  mischief;  that  they 
stir  up  bad  blood  in  the  native  population,  and  perpetiiate 
an  animosity  of  races.  Far  better  would  it  be  to  leave 
the  "  mild  Hindoo "  to  his  gods ;  to  let  him  worship  his 
sacred  cows,  and  monkeys  and  serpents,  and  his  hideous 
idols,  so  long  as  he  is  a  quiet  and  inoffensive  subject  of  the 
government. 

If  one  were  preaching  a  sermon  to  a  Christian  congrega- 
tion, he  might  disdain  a  reply  to  objections  which  seem  to 
!!♦ 


250  MISSIONS   NOW   ON   TKIAL. 

come  out  of  the  mouths  of  unbelievers ;  it  would  be  enough, 
to  repeat  the  words  of  Him  who  said,  "  Go  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  But  I  am  not 
preaching,  but  conversing  with  an  intelligent  gentleman, 
Avho  has  lived  long  in  India,  and  might  well  assume  that  he 
knows  far  more  about  the  actual  situation  than  I  do.  Such 
men  are  not  to  be  put  down.  They  represent  a  large  part  of 
the  Anglo-Indian  population.  We  may  therefore  as  well 
recognize  the  fact  that  Modern  Missions,  like  any  other 
enterpi-ise  which  is  ])roposed  in  the  interest  of  civilization, 
are  now  on  trial  before  the  world.  We  may  look  upon  them 
as  too  sacred  for  criticism  ;  but  in  this  irreverent  age  nothing 
is  too  sacred ;  everything  that  is  holy  has  to  be  judged  by 
reason,  and  by  practical  results,  and  by  these  to  be  justified 
or  to  be  condemned.  I  would  not  therefore  claim  anything 
on  the  ground  of  authority,  but  speak  of  missions  as  I  would 
of  national  education,  or  even  of  the  railroad  system  of  India. 
The  question  here  raised  I  think  deserves  a  larger  and 
more  candid  treatment  than  it  commonly  receives  either 
from  the  advocates  or  the  opponents  of  missions.  It  is 
not  to  be  settled  merely  by  piovis  feeling,  by  unreasoning 
sentiment  on  the  one  hand,  nor  by  sneers  on  the  other.  To 
convert  a  whole  country  from  one  religion  to  another,  is 
an  undertaking  so  vast  that  it  is  not  to  be  lightly  entered 
upon.  The  very  attempt  assumes  a  superior  wisdom  on  the 
part  of  those  who  make  it,  which  is  itself  almost  an  offence. 
Tf  it  be  not  "a  grand  impertinence,"  an  intrusion  into 
matters  with  which  no  stranger  has  a  right  to  intermeddle, 
it  is  at  least  taking  a  great  liberty  to  thrust  upon  a  man  our 
opinion  in  censure  of  his  own.  We  may  think  him  very 
ignorant,  and  in  need  of  being  enlightened.  But  he  may 
have  a  poor  opinion  of  our  ability  to  enlighten  him.  We 
think  him  a  fool,  and  he  returns  the  compliment.  At  any 
rate,  right  or  wrong,  he  is  entitled  to  the  freedom  of  his 
opinion  as  much  as  we  are  to  ours.     If  a  stranger  were  to 


CAN   ANYTHING   JUSTIFY    THEM   IN   INDIA?  251 

come  to  us  day  by  day,  to  argue  with  us,  and  to  force  his 
opinions  upon  us,  either  in  politics  or  religion,  -we  might 
listen  civilly  and  patiently  at  first,  but  we  should  end  by 
turning  him  out  of  doors.  What  right  have  we  to  pronounce 
on  his  opinions  and  conduct  any  more  than  he  upon  ours  ? 

In  the  domain  of  religion,  especially,  a  man's  opinions  are 
sacred.  They  are  between  himself  and  God.  There  is  no 
greater  offence  against  courtesy,  against  that  mutual  conces- 
sion of  perfect  freedom,  which  is  the  first  law  of  all  human 
intercourse,  than  to  interfere  wantonly  with  the  opinions — 
nay,  if  yovi  please,  with  the  false  opiuions,  with  the  errors 
and  prejudices — of  mankind.  Nothing  but  the  most  imper- 
ative call  of  humanity — a  plea  of  "  necessity  or  mercy  " — 
can  justify  a  crusade  against 'the  ancestral  faith  of  a  whole 
people. 

I  state  the  case  as  strongly  as  I  can,  that  we  may  look 
upon  it  as  an  English  officer,  or  even  an  intelligent  Hindoo, 
looks  upon  it,  and  I  admit  frankly  that  we  have  no  more 
right  to  force  our  religion  upon  the  people  of  India,  than  to 
force  upon  them  a  republican  form  of  government,  unless  we 
can  give  a  reason  for  it,  which  shall  be  recognized  at  the  bar 
of  the  intelligent  judgment  of  mankind. 

Is  there  then  any  good  reason — any  raison  oTHre — for  the 
establishment  of  missions  in  India  ?  If  there  be  not  some 
very  solid  and  substantial  ground  for  their  existence,  they 
are  not  to  be  justified  merely  because  their  motive  is  good. 
Is  there  then  any  reason  whatever  which  can  justify  any 
man,  or  body  of  men,  in  invading  this  country  with  a  new 
religion,  and  attacking  the  ancient  faith  of  the  peo])le  ? 

All  students  of  history  will  acknowledge  that  there  are 
certain  great  revolutions  in  the  opinions  of  mankind,  which 
axe  epochs  in  history,  and  turning  points  in  the  life  of 
nations.  India  has  had  many  such  revolutions,  dating  far 
back  before  the  Christian  era.  Centviries  before  Christ  was 
bom,  Buddha  preached  his  new  faith  on  the  banks  of  the 


252  INDIA   THE   LAND   OF   MISSIONS. 

Ganges.  For  a  time  it  conquered  the  country,  driving  out 
the  old  Brahminism,  which  however  came  back  and  con- 
quered in  its  turn,  till  Buddhism,  retiring  slowly  from  the 
plains  of  India,  planted  its  pagodas  on  the  shores  of  Bur- 
mah  and  among  the  mountains  of  Ceylon. 

Thus  India  is  a  land  of  missions,  and  has  been  from  the 
very  beginnings  of  history.  It  was  traversed  by  mission- 
aries of  its  ancient  faith  ages  before  Tamerlane  descended 
the  passes  of  the  Himalayas  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and 
the  Koran  in  the  other ;  or  Francis  Xavier,  the  Apostle  of 
the  Indies,  laid  his  bones  in  the  Cathedral  of  Groa.  If  then 
Buddhists  and  Brahmins,  and  Moslems  and  Romanists,  have 
so  long  disputed  the  land,  there  is  certainly  no  reason  why 
we  should  condemn  at  the  veiy  outset  the  entrance  of  Pro- 
testant Christianity. 

Beside  this  great  fact  in  the  history  of  India  place  another : 
that  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  religion  is  such 
a  power,  such  an  element  in  the  life  of  the  people.  The  Hin- 
doos are  not  only  religious,  they  are  intensely  so.  They  have 
not  indeed  the  fierce  fanaticism  of  the  Moslems,  for  their 
creed  tolerates  all  religions,  but  what  they  believe  they  be- 
lieve strongly.  They  have  a  subtle  philosophy  which  per- 
vades all  their  thinking,  which  digs  the  very  channels  in 
which  their  thoughts  run,  and  cannot  overflow ;  and  this  phi- 
losophy, which  is  imbedded  in  their  religious  creed,  fixes 
their  castes  and  customs,  as  rigidly  as  it  does  their  forms  of 
worship.  Religion  is  therefore  the  chief  element  in  the  na- 
tional life.  It  has  more  to  do  in  moulding  the  ideas  and 
habits,  the  manners  and  customs,  of  the  people,  than  laws  or 
government,  or  any  other  human  institution.  Thus  India 
furnishes  the  most  imjjosing  illustration  on  earth  of  the 
power  of  Religion  to  shape  the  destiny  of  a  country  or  a 
race. 

Whether  there  be  anything  to  justify  a  friendly  invasion 
of  India,  and  the  attempt  to  convert  its  people  to  a  better  re- 


WHAT   18   HHJDOOISM?  253 

ligion,  may  appear  if  we  ask,  What  is  Hindooism  ?  Is  it  a 
good  or  bad  faith  ?  Does  it  make  men  better  or  worse — 
happy  or  unhappy  ?  Does  it  promote  the  welfare  of  human 
beings,  or  is  it  a  system  which  is  false  in  belief  and  deadly 
in  its  effects,  and  against  which  we  have  a  right  to  wage  a 
holy  war  ? 

Hindooism  has  a  thousand  shapes,  spreading  out  its  arms 
like  a  mighty  banyan  tree,  but  its  root  is  one — Pantheism. 
When  an  old  fakir  at  the  Mela  at  Allahabad  said  to  me, 
"  You  are  God  and  I  am  God  ! "  he  did  not  utter  a  wild 
rhapsody,  but  expressed  the  essence  of  Hindoo  philosophy, 
according  to  which  all  beings  that  exist  are  but  One  Being  ; 
all  thoughts  are  but  the  pulse-beats  of  One  Infinite  Mind ; 
all  acts  are  but  the  manifestation  of  One  Universal  Life. 

Some  may  think  this  theory  a  mere  abstraction,  which  has 
no  practical  bearing.  But  carried  out  to  its  logical  conse- 
quences, it  overthrows  all  morality.  If  all  acts  of  men 
are  God's  acts,  then  they  are  all  equally  good  or  bad ;  or 
rather,  they  are  neither  good  nor  bad.  Thus  moral  distinc- 
tions are  destroyed,  and  vice  and  virtue  are  together  banished 
from  the  world.  Hence  Hindooism  as  a  religion  has  noth- 
ing whatever  to  do  with  morality  or  virtue,  but  is  only  a 
means  of  propitiating  angry  deities.  It  is  a  religion  of  ter- 
ror and  fear.  It  is  also  unspeakably  vile.  It  is  the  worship 
of  obscene  gods  by  obscene  rites.  Its  very  gods  and  god- 
desses commit  adultery  and  incest.  Thus  vice  is  deified. 
Such  a  mythology  pollutes  the  imaginations  of  the  people, 
whereby  their  very  mind  and  conscience  are  defiled.  Not  only 
the  heart,  but  even  the  intellect  is  depraved  by  the  loathsome 
objects  set  up  in  their  temples.  The  most  common  object 
of  worship  in  India  is  an  obscene  image.  Indeed,  so  well 
understood  is  this,  that  when  a  law  was  passed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment against  the  exhibition  of  obscene  images,  an  express 
exception  was  made  in  favor  of  those  exposed  in  temples, 
and  which  were  objects  of  religious  worship.     Thus  Hindoo- 


254  "  POWER   OF   CASTE. 

ism  has  the  privilege  of  indecency,  and  is  allowed  to  break 
over  all  resti-aints.  It  is  the  licensed  harlot,  that  is  per- 
mitted, in  deference  to  its  religious  pretensions,  to  disregard 
the  common  decencies  of  mankind.  The  effect  of  this  on 
public  morals  can  be  imagined.  The  stream  cannot  rise 
higher  than  its  source.  How  can  a  people  be  pure,  when 
their  very  religion  is  a  fountain  of  pollution  ?  But  this  is  a 
subject  on  which  we  cannot  enlarge.  It  is  an  abyss  into 
which  no  one  would  wish  to  look.  It  is  sufficient  to  indi- 
cate what  we  cannot  for  very  loathing  undertake  to  describe. 
There  is  another  element  in  the  Hindoo  religion,  which 
cannot  be  ignored,  and  which  gives  it  a  tremendous  power 
for  good  or  evil.  It  is  Caste.  Every  Hindoo  child  is  born 
in  a  certain  caste,  out  of  which  he  cannot  escape.  When  I 
landed  at  Bombay  I  observed  that  eveiy  native  had  upon  his 
forehead  a  mark  freshly  made,  as  if  with  a  stroke  of  the  fin- 
ger, which  indicated  the  god  he  worshipped  or  the  caste  to 
which  he  belonged.  Of  these  there  are  four  principal  ones 
— the  Priest,  or  Brahmin  caste,  which  issued  out  of  the 
mouth  of  Bralim  ;  the  Warrior  caste,  which  sprung  from  his 
arms  and  breast ;  the  Merchant  caste,  from  his  thighs  ;  and 
the  Shoodras,  or  Servile  caste,  which  crawled  out  from  be- 
tween his  feet ;  beside  the  Pariahs,  who  are  below  all  caste. 
These  divisions  are  absolute  and  iinchangeable.  To  say  that 
they  are  maintained  by  the  force  of  ancient  custom  is  not 
enough  :  they  are  fixed  as  by  a  law  of  nature.  The  strata  of 
society  are  as  immovable  as  the  strata  of  the  rock-ribbed 
hills.  No  man  can  stir  out  of  his  place.  If  he  is  up  he  stays 
up  by  no  virtue  of  his  own ;  and  if  he  is  down,  he  stays 
down,  beyond  any  power  of  man  to  deliver  him.  No  gift  of 
genius,  or  height  of  virtue,  can  ever  raise  up  one  of  a  low 
caste  into  a  higher,  for  caste  is  a  matter  of  birth.  Upon 
these  sub-strata  this  fixity  of  caste  rests  with  crushing  weight. 
It  holds  them  down  as  with  the  force  of  gravitation,  as  if  the 
Himalayas  were  rolled  upon  them  to  press  them  to  the  earth. 


ITS   COLDNESS   AND   CRUELTY.  256 

Against  this  oppression  there  is  no  power  of  resistance,  no 
lifting  up  from  beneath  to  throw  it  off.  One  would  suppose 
that  the  people  themselves  would  revolt  at  this  servitude, 
that  every  manly  instinct  would  rise  up  in  rebellion  against 
such  a  degradation.  But  so  ingrained  is  it  in  the  very  life 
of  the  people,  that  they  cannot  cast  it  out  any  more  than  they 
can  cast  out  a  poison  in  their  blood.  Indeed  they  seem  to 
glory  in  it.  The  lower  castes  crouch  and  bow  down  that 
others  may  pass  over  them.  A  Brahmin,  who  had  become  a 
Christian,  told  me  that  the  people  had  often  asked  him  to  wash 
his  feet  in  the  water  of  the  street,  that  they  might  drink  it ! 

Caste  is  a  cold  and  cruel  thing,  which  hardens  the  heart 
against  natural  compassion.  I  know  it  is  said  that  high  caste 
is  only  an  aristocracy  of  birth,  and  that,  as  such,  it  fosters 
a  certain  nobility  of  feeling,  and  also  a  mutual  friendliness 
between  those  who  belong  to  the  same  order.  A  caste  ia 
only  a  larger  family,  and  in  it  there  is  the  same  feeling,  a  mix- 
ture of  pride  and  affection,  which  binds  the  family  together. 
Perhaps  it  may  nurture  to  some  extent  a  kind  of  clannish- 
ness,  but  it  does  this  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  broader  and 
nobler  sentiment  of  humanity.  It  hardens  the  heart  into 
coldness  and  cruelty  against  all  without  one  sacred  pale. 
The  Brahmin  feels  nothing  for  the  sufferings  of  the  Pariah, 
who  is  of  another  order  of  being  as  truly  as  if  he  were  one 
of  the  lower  animals.  Thus  the  feeling  of  caste  extinguishes 
the  sentiment  of  human  brotherhood. 

Taking  all  these  elements  together,  Hindooism  must  rank 
as  the  most  despotic,  the  most  cruel,  and  the  vilest  of  all 
that  is  called  religion  among  men.  There  is  no  other  that 
so  completely  upturns  moral  distinctions,  and  makes  evil 
good  and  good  evil.  Other  religions,  even  though  false, 
have  some  sentiment  that  ennobles  them,  but  Hindooism,  the 
product  of  a  land  fertile  in  strange  births,  is  the  lowest  and 
basest,  the  most  truly  earth-born,  of  all  the  religions  that 
curse  mankind. 


256  THE   BURDEN   OF   PILGRIMAGES. 

And  what  burdens  does  it  lay  upon  a  poor,  patient,  and 
suffering  people,  in  prayers,  penances,  and  pilgrimages ! 
The  faith  of  Hindooism  is  not  a  mild  and  harmless  form  of 
human  credulity.  It  exacts  a  terrible  service,  that  must  be 
paid  with  sweat  and  blood.  Millions  of  Hindoos  go  every 
year  on  pilgrimages.  The  traveller  sees  them  thronging  the 
roads,  dragging  their  weary  feet  over  the  hot  plains,  many 
literally  crawling  over  the  burning  earth,  to  appease  the 
wrath  of  angry  gods  !  A  religion  which  exacts  such  service 
is  not  a  mere  creature  of  the  imagination — it  is  a  tremendous 
reality,  which  makes  its  presence  felt  at  every  moment.  It 
is  therefore  not  a  matter  of  practical  indifference.  It  is  not 
a  mere  exhibition  of  human  folly,  which,  however  absurd, 
does  no  harm  to  anybody.  It  is  a  despotism  which  grinds 
the  people  to  jjowder. 

Seeing  this,  how  they  suffer  under  a  power  from  which 
they  cannot  escajje,  can  there  be  a  greater  object  of  philan- 
thropy in  all  the  world  than  to  emancipate  them  from  the 
bondage  of  such  ignorance  and  superstition  ?  Scientific 
men,  the  apostles  of  "  modern  thought,"  consider  it  not  only 
a  legitimate  object,  but  the  high  "  mission  "  of  science,  by 
unfolding  the  laws  of  nature,  to  disabuse  our  minds  of  idle 
and  superstitious  fears  ;  to  break  up  that  vague  terror  of  un- 
seen forces,  which  is  the  chief  element  of  superstition.  If 
they  may  fight  this  battle  in  England,  may  we  not  fight  the 
battle  of  truth  with  error  and  ignorance  in  Hindostan  ? 
Englishmen  think  it  a  noble  thing  for  brave  and  adventurous 
spirits  to  form  expeditions  to  penetrate  the  interior  of  Africa 
to  break  up  the  slave  trade.  But  here  is  a  slavery  the  most 
terrible  which  ever  crushed  the  life  out  of  human  beings. 
Brahminism,  which  is  fastened  upon  the  people  of  India,  em- 
braces them  like  an  anaconda,  clasping  and  crushing  them  in 
its  mighty  folds.  It  is  a  devouring  monster,  which  takes 
out  of  the  very  body  of  every  Hindoo,  poor  and  naked 
and  wretched  as  he  may  be,  its  pound  of  quivering  flesh. 


VIRTUES   OF   THE   HINDOOS.  257 

Can  these  things  be,  and  we  look  on  unmoved  ?  Can  we  see 
a  whole  people  bound,  like  Laocoon  and  his  sons,  in  the  grasp 
of  the  serpent,  writhing  and  struggling  in  vain,  and  not  come 
to  their  rescue  ? 

Such  is  Hindooism,  and  such  is  the  condition  to  which  it 
has  reduced  the  people  of  India.  Do  we  need  any  other  ar- 
gument for  Christian  missions  ?  Does  not  this  simple  state- 
ment furnish  a  perfect  defence,  and  even  an  imperative  de- 
mand for  their  establishment  ?  Christianity  is  the  only  hope 
of  India.  In  saying  this  I  do  not  intend  any  disrespect  to  the 
people  of  this  country,  to  whom  I  feel  a  strong  attraction. 
We  are  not  apt  to  hear  from  our  missionary  friends  much 
about  the  virtues  of  the  heathen ;  but  virtues  they  have,  which 
it  were  wrong  to  ignore.  The  Hindoos,  like  other  Asiatics,  are 
a  very  domestic  people,  and  have  strong  domestic  attachments. 
They  love  their  homes,  humble  though  they  be,  and  their  chil- 
dren. And  while  they  have  not  the  active  enei-gy  of  Western 
races,  yet  in  the  passive  virtues — meekness,  patience  under 
injury,  submission  to  wrong — they  furnish  an  example  to 
Christian  nations.  That  submissiveness,  which  travellers 
notice,  and  which  moves  some  to  scorn,  moves  me  rather  to 
pity,  and  I  find  in  this  patient,  long-suffering  race  much  to 
honor  and  to  love.  Nor  are  they  unintelligent.  They  havo 
very  subtle  minds.  Thus  they  have  many  of  the  qualities  of 
a  great  people.  But  their  religion  is  their  destruction.  It 
makes  them  no  better,  it  makes  them  worse.  It  does  not  lift 
them  up,  it  drags  them  down.  It  is  the  one  terrible  and 
overwhelming  cui-se,  that  must  be  removed  before  there  is 
any  hope  for  the  people  of  India. 

Is  there  not  here  a  legitimate  ground  for  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  civilized  and  Christian  world  to  introduce  a  better 
faith  into  that  mighty  country  which  holds  two  hundred  mil- 
lions of  the  human  race  ?  This  is  not  intrusion,  it  is  simple 
humanity.  In  seeking  to  introduce  Christianity  into  India, 
we  invade  no  right  of  any  native  of  that  country,  Mohamm©- 


258  LEGITIMATE   OKOUND   FOR   MISSIONS, 

dan  or  Hindoo  ;  we  would  not  wantonly  wound  their  feelings, 
nor  even  shock  their  prejudices,  in  attacking  their  hereditary 
faith.  But  we  claim  that  here  is  a  case  where  we  cannot 
keep  silent.  If  we  are  told  that  we  "  interfere  with  the  peo- 
ple," we  answer,  that  we  interfere  as  the  Good  Samaritan 
interfered  with  the  man  who  fell  among  thieves,  and  was  left 
by  the  roadside  to  die ;  as  the  physician  in  the  hospital  inter- 
feres with  those  dying  of  the  cholera;  as  one  who  sees  a 
brother  at  his  side  struck  by  a  deadly  serpent  applies  his 
mouth  to  the  wound,  to  suck  the  poison  from  his  blood  !  If 
that  be  interference,  it  is  interference  where  it  would  be 
cruelty  to  stand  aloof,  for  he  would  be  less  than  man  who 
could  be  unmoved  in  presence  of  misery  so  vast,  which  it  was 
in  any  degree  in  his  power  to  relieve. 

Thus  India  itself  is  the  suflGicient  argument  for  missions 
in  India.  Let  any  one  visit  this  country,  and  study  its 
religion,  and  see  how  it  enters  into  the  very  life  of  the 
people  ;  how  all  social  intercourse  is  regulated  by  caste ;  how 
one  feels  at  every  instant  the  pressure  of  an  ancient  and  un- 
changeable religion,  and  ask  how  its  iron  rule  is  ever  to  be 
broken  ?  Who  shall  deliver  them  from  the  body  of  this 
death  ?  There  is  in  Hindooism  no  power  of  self-cure.  For 
ages  it  has  remained  the  same,  and  will  remain  for  ages  still. 
Help,  if  it  come  at  all,  must  come  from  without,  and  where 
else  can  it  come  from,  but  from  lands  beyond  the  sea? 

Therefore  it  is  that  the  Christian  people  of  England  and 
America  come  to  the  people  of  India,  not  in  a  tone  of  self- 
righteousness,  assuming  that  we  are  better  than  they,  but  in 
the  name  of  humanity,  of  the  brotherhood  of  the  human  race. 
We  believe  that  "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of 
men  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth,"  and  these  Hindoos, 
though  living  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  are  our  brothers. 
They  are  born  into  the  same  world;  they  belong  to  the  same 
human  family,  and  have  the  same  immortal  destiny.  To  such 
a  people,  capable  of  great  things,  but  crushed  and  oj)pressed, 


UNDERTAKEN   IN   THE   NAME   OF   HUilANITY.         259 

we  come  to  do  them  good.  We  would  break  the  terrible 
bondage  of  caste,  and  bring  forth  woman  out  of  the  prison- 
house  where  she  passes  her  lonely  existence.  This  involves 
a  social  as  well  as  a  religious  revolution.  But  what  a  sigh  of 
relief  would  it  bring  to  millions  who,  under  their  present 
conditions,  are  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage. 

There  is  a  saying  in  the  East  that  in  India  the  flowers 
yield  no  perfume,  the  birds  never  sing,  and  the  women  never 
smile.  Of  course  this  is  an  exaggeration,  and  yet  it  has  a 
basis  of  truth.  It  is  true  that  the  flowers  of  the  tropics, 
though  often  of  brilliant  hues,  do  not  yield  the  rich  perfume 
of  the  roses  of  our  Northern  clime  ;  and  many  of  the  birds 
whose  golden  plumage  flashes  sunlight  in  the  deep  gloom  of 
tropical  forests,  have  only  a  piercing  shriek,  instead  of  the 
soft,  delicious  notes  of  the  robin  and  the  dove ;  and  the  women 
have  a  downcast  look.  Well  may  it  be  so.  They  lead  a 
secluded  and  solitary  life.  Shut  up  iu  their  zenanas,  away 
from  society,  they  have  no  part  in  many  of  the  joys  of  human 
existence,  though  they  have  more  than  their  share  of  life's 
burdens  and  its  woes.  No  wonder  that  their  faces  should  be 
sad  and  sorrowful.  Thus  the  whole  creation  seems  to  gi'oan 
and  travail  in  pain. 

Now  we  desire  to  dispel  the  darkness  and  the  gloom  of 
ages,  and  to  bring  smiles  and  music  and  flowers  once  more 
into  this  stricken  world.  Teaching  a  I'eligion  of  love  and 
good  will  to  men,  we  would  cure  the  hatred  of  races,  and 
bring  all  together  in  a  common  brotherhood.  We  would  so  lift 
up  the  poor  of  this  world,  that  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee 
away,  and  that  every  lowly  Indian  hut  shall  be  filled  with  the 
light  of  a  new  existence.  In  that  day  will  not  nature  share 
in  the  joy  of  man's  deliverance  ?  Then  will  the  birds  begin 
to  sing,  as  if  they  were  let  loose  from  the  gates  of  heaven  to 
go  flying  through  the  earth,  and  to  fill  our  common  air  with 
the  voice  of  melody.  Then  shall  smiles  be  seen  once  more 
on  hunyui  faces  i   not  the  loud  cackling  of  empty  laughter ; 


260  DO   MISSIONARIES   DO    ANY   GOOD? 

but  smiles  breaking  through  tears  (the  reflection  of  a  peace 
that  passeth  understanding),  shall  spread  like  sunshine  over 
the  sad  faces  of  the  daughters  of  Asia. 

But  some  "  old  Indian "  who  has  listened  politely,  yet 
smiling  and  incredulous,  to  this  defence  of  missions,  may 
answei-,  "  All  this  is  very  fine ;  no  doubt  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  if  the  people  of  India  would  change  their  religion ; 
■would  cast  oif  Hindooism,  and  adopt  Christianity.  But  is 
it  not  practically  impossible  ?  Do  all  the  ejfforts  of  mission- 
aries really  amount  to  anything."  This  is  a  fair  question, 
and  I  will  try  to  give  it  a  fair  answer. 

"  Do  missionaries  do  any  good  ?  "  Perhaps  we  can  best 
answer  the  question  by  dra^ving  the  picture  of  an  Indian 
village,  such  as  one  may  see  at  thousands  of  points  scattered 
over  the  country.  It  is  a  cluster  of  huts,  constructed  some- 
times with  a  light  frame-work  of  bamboo,  filled  in  with 
matting,  but  more  commonly  of  mud,  with  a  i-oof  of  thatch  to 
prevent  its  being  washed  away  in  the  rainy  season.  These 
huts  ai-e  separated  from  each  other  by  narrow  lanes  that  can 
hardly  be  dignified  with  the  name  of  streets.  Yet  in  such  a 
hamlet  of  hovels,  hardly  fit  for  human  habitation,  may  be  a 
large  population.  Every  doorway  is  swarming  with  children. 
On  the  outskirts  of  the  village  is  the  missionary  hungaloWy 
a  large  one-story  house,  also  built  of  mud,  but  neatly  white- 
washed and  protected  from  the  I'ains  by  a  heavy  thatched 
roof,  which  projects  over  the  walls,  and  shades  the  broad 
veranda.  In  the  "  compound  "  are  two  other  buildings  of 
the  same  rude  material  and  simple  architecture,  a  church  and 
a  schoolhouse.  In  the  latter  are  gathered  every  day  ten, 
twenty,  fifty — perhaps  a  hundred — children,  with  bare  feet 
and  poor  garments,  though  clean,  but  with  bright  eyes,  and 
who  seem  eager  to  learn.  All  day  long  comes  from  that  low 
building  a  buzz  and  hum  as  from  a  hive  of  bees.  Every 
Sunday  is  gathered  in  the  little  chapel  a  congregation  chiefly 
of  poor  people,  plainly  but  neatly  dressed,  and  who,  as  they 


THE  MISSION  BUNGALOW   IN   AN   INDIAN   VILLAGE.    261 

sit  there,  reclaimed  from  heathenism,  seem  to  be  "  clothed 
and  in  their  right  minds."  To  the  poor  the  Gospel  is 
preached,  and  never  does  it  show  its  sweetness  and  power, 
as  when  it  comes  down  into  such  abodes  of  poverty,  and 
gives  to  these  humble  natives  a  new  hope  and  a  new  life 
— a  life  of  joy  and  peace.  Perhaps  in  the  same  compound 
is  an  orphanage,  in  which  are  gathered  the  little  castaways 
who  have  been  deserted  by  their  parents,  left  by  the  road- 
side to  die — or  whose  parents  may  have  died  by  cholera — and 
who  are  thus  rescued  from  death,  and  given  the  chance  which 
belongs  to  every  human  creature  of  life  and  of  happiness. 

Perhaps  the  missionary  is  a  little  of  a  physician,  and  has  a 
small  chest  of  medicines,  and  the  poor  people  come  to  him 
for  cures  of  their  bodily  ailments,  as  well  as  for  their  spir- 
itual troubles.  After  awhile  he  gains  their  confidence,  and 
becomes,  not  by  any  appointment,  but  simply  by  the  right 
of  goodness  and  the  force  of  character,  a  sort  of  unofficial 
magistrate,  or  head  man  of  the  village,  a  general  peacemaker 
and  benefactor.  Can  any  one  estimate  the  influence  of  such 
a  man,  with  his  gentle  wife  at  his  side,  who  is  also  active 
both  in  teaching  and  in  every  form  of  charity  ?  Who  does 
not  see  that  such  a  missionary  bungalow,  with  its  school, 
its  orphanage,  and  its  church,  and  its  daily  influences  of 
teaching  and  of  example,  is  a  centre  of  civilization,  when 
planted  in  the  heart  of  an  Indian  village  ? 

How  extensive  is  this  influence  will  of  course  depend  on 
the  many  or  the  few  devoted  to  this  work,  and  the  wisdom 
and  energy  with  which  they  pursue  it.  The  number  of  mis- 
sionaries in  India  is  very -small  compared  with  the  vast  popu- 
lation. And  yet  the  picture  here  drawn  of  one  village  is 
reproduced  in  hundreds  of  villages.  Take  the  representatives 
of  all  the  churches  and  societies  of  Protestant  Christendom, 
they  would  make  a  very  respectable  force.  But  even  this 
does  not  represent  the  full  amount  of  influence  they  exert. 
Moral   influences   cannot  be   weighed    and    measured  like 


262  EXTENT   OF   THIS   INFLUENCE. 

material  forces.  Nor  are  missionaries  to  be  counted,  like 
the  soldiers  of  an  army.  They  are  not  drawn  up  on  parade, 
and  do  not  march  through  the  streets,  with  gleaming  bayonets. 
Their  forces  are  scattered,  and  their  work  is  silent  and  un- 
seen. 

But  in  all  quiet  ways,  by  churches,  schools,  and  orphan- 
ages, their  influence  is  felt ;  while  by  the  printing-press  they 
scatter  religious  truth  all  over  India,  the  effect  of  which,  in 
tens  of  thousands  of  those  whom  it  does  not  "  convert,"  is  to 
destroy  the  power  of  their  old  idolatry. 

That  more  Hindoos  do  not  openly  embrace  Christianity  is 
not  surprising,  when  one  considers  the  social  influences  which 
restrain  them.  When  a  Hindoo  becomes  a  Christian,  he  is 
literally  an  outcast.  His  most  intimate  friends  will  not  know 
him.  His  own  family  turn  him  from  their  door,  feeling  that 
he  has  brought  upon  them  a  disgrace  far  greater  than  if  he 
had  committed  a  crime  for  which  he  was  to  perish  on  the 
scaffold.  To  them  he  is  dead,  and  they  perform  his  funeral 
rites  as  if  he  were  no  more  in  this  world.  The  pastor  of  the 
native  church  in  Bombay  has  thus  been  buried  or  burned  by 
his  own  family.  Another  told  me  that  his  own  father  turned 
from  him  in  the  street,  and  refused  to  recognize  him.  These 
things  are  very  hard  to  bear.  And  so  far  from  wondering 
that  there  are  not  more  conversions  among  the  natives  of  In- 
dia, I  wonder  that  there  are  so  many. 

But  what  sort  of  Christians  are  they  ?  Are  they  like 
English  or  American  Christians  ?  When  I  landed  in  India, 
and  saw  what  a  strange  people  I  was  among,  how  unlike 
our  own  race,  I  asked  a  question  which  many  have  asked 
before  :  Whether  these  people  could  become  Christians  ?  It 
is  a  favorite  idea  of  many  tiavellers — and  of  many  English 
residents  in  India — that  not  only  is  the  number  of  conver- 
sions small,  but  that  the  "  converts  "  are  not  worth  having 
when  they  are  made.  It  is  said  that  it  is  only  low  caste  na- 
tives, who  b<^ve  nothing  to  lose,  that  will  desert  their  old  re- 


THB   NATIVE   CHEI8TIAN8.  263 

ligion ;  and  that  they  are  influenced  only  by  the  lowest  mo- 
tives, and  that  while  they  profess  to  be  converted,  they  are 
in  no  wise  changed  from  what  they  were,  except  that  to  their 
old  heathen  vices  they  have  added  that  of  hypocrisy.  Hear- 
ing these  things,  I  have  taken  some  pains  to  ascei'tain  what 
soi-t  of  people  these  native  converts  are.  I  have  attended 
their  religious  services,  and  have  met  them  socially,  and,  so 
far  as  I  could  judge,  I  have  never  seen  more  simple-minded 
Chi-istians.  Some  of  them  are  as  intelligent  as  the  best  in- 
structed members  of  our  New  England  churches.  As  to  their 
low  caste,  statistics  show,  among  them,  a  greater  proportion 
of  Brahmins  than  of  any  other  caste,  as  might  be  expected 
from  their  greater  intelligence. 

The  work,  then,  has  not  been  in  vain.  The  advance  is 
slow,  but  it  is  something  that  there  is  an  advance.  I  am 
told,  as  the  result  of  a  careful  estimate,  that  if  the  progress 
continues  in  the  future  as  it  has  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  in 
two  centuries  the  whole  of  India  with  its  two  hundred  mil- 
lions of  people,  will  be  converted  to  the  Christian  religion. 
This  is  a  spread  of  Christianity  more  rapid  than  that  in  the 
age  of  the  apostles,  for  it  was  three  centuries  before  the  faith 
which  they  preached  became  master  of  the  Roman  empire. 

With  such  a  record  of  what  Christian  Missions  have  done 
in  India,  with  such  evidences  of  their  good  influence  and 
growing  power,  they  are  entitled  to  honor  and  respect  as  one  of 
the  great  elements  in  the  problem  of  the  future  of  that  coun- 
try. To  speak  of  them  flippantly,  argues  but  small  acquain- 
tance with  the  historical  forces  which  have  hitherto  governed 
India  or  indeed  Britain  itself.  It  ill  becomes  Englishmen  to 
sneer  at  missions,  for  to  missionaries  they  owe  it  that  their 
island  has  been  reclaimed  from  barbarism.  When  Augustine 
landed  in  Britain  their  ancestors  were  clothed  in  skins,  and 
roaming  in  forests.  It  was  the  new  religion  that  softened 
their  manners,  refined  their  lives,  and  in  the  lapse  of  genera- 
tions wrought  out  the  slow  process  of  civilization. 


264  MISSIONS   IN   BRITAIN. 

In.  Johnson's  "Tour  to  tlie  Hebrides,"  he  refers  to  the 
early  missionaries  who  civilized  Britain  in  a  passage  which  is 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  in  English  literature:  "  We  were 
now  treading  that  illustrious  island  which  was  once  the  lu- 
minary of  the  Caledonian  regions,  whence  savage  clans  and 
roving  barbarians  derived  the  benefits  of  knowledge  and  the 
blessings  of  religion.  .  .  .  Far  from  me  and  from  my  friends, 
be  such  frigid  philosophy  as  may  conduct  us  indifterent  and 
unmoved  over  any  ground  which  has  been  dignified  by  wis- 
dom, bravery  or  virtue.  That  man  is  little  to  be  envied 
whose  patriotism  would  not  gain  force  upon  the  plain  of 
Marathon,  or  whose  piety  would  not  grow  warmer  among 
the  niins  of  lona." 

That  power  which  has  made  England  so  great ;  which  has 
made  the  English  race  the  foremost  race  in  all  this  world ;  is 
now  carried  to  another  hemisphere  to  work  the  same  grad- 
ual elevation  in  the  East,  It  is  a  mighty  undertaking. 
The  lifting  up  of  a  race  is  like  the  lifting  up  of  a  continent. 
Such  changes  cannot  come  suddenly  ;  but  in  the  slow  lapse 
of  ages  the  continent  may  be  found  to  have  risen,  and  to  be 
covered,  as  it  were,  with  a  new  floral  vegetation ;  as  that 
faith,  which  is  the  life  of  Europe,  has  entei'ed  into  the  vast 
populations  of  Asia. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

BENARES,  THE  HOLY  CITY. 

We  had  begun  to  feel  ourselves  at  home  in  India.  A 
stranger  takes  root  quickly,  as  foreign  plants  take  root  in  the 
soil,  and  spring  up  under  the  sun  and  rain  of  the  tropics.  A 
traveller  makes  acquaintances  that  ripen  into  fiiendship  and 
bind  him  so  fast  that  it  is  a  real  pain  when  he  has  to  break 
away  and  leave  these  new  friends  behind.  Thus  Allahabad 
had  become  our  Indian  home.  The  missionary  community 
was  so  delightful,  and  everybody  was  so  kind  and.  hospitable, 
that  we  had  come  to  feel  as  if  we  were  only  in  an  outlying 
corner  of  America.  The  missionary  bungalow  was  like  a 
parsonage  in  New  England ;  and  when  we  left  all,  and  the 
train  rolled  across  the  long  bridge  over  the  Jumna,  from 
which  we  saw  Miss  Seward  and  Miss  Wilson  standing  on 
their  veranda,  and  waving  us  farewell,  it  seemed  as  if  we 
were  leaving  home. 

But  the  holy  city  was  before  us.  Some  seventy  miles  from 
Allahabad  stands  a  city  "which,  to  the  devout  Hindoo,  is  the 
most  sacred  place  on  earth — one  which  overtops  all  others,  as 
the  Himalayas  overtop  all  other  mountains  on  the  globe. 
There  are  holy  shrines  in  different  countries,  which  are  held 
sacred  by  the  devotees  of  different  religions;  but  there  are 
foiu'  chief  holy  cities — Rome,  Jerusalem,  Mecca,  and  Benares. 
As  the  devout  Catholic  makes  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  to  re- 
ceive the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Father ;  as  the  Jew  traverses 
land  and  sea,  that  his  feet  may  stand  within  the  gates  of  Je- 
rusalem, where  he  weeps  at  the  place  of  wailing  under  the 
walls  of  the  ancient  temple ;  as  the  caravan  of  the  Arab  still 
13 


266  BENARES. 

crosses  the  desert  to  Mecca ;  so  does  the  devout  Hindoo  come 
to  Benares,  and  covint  it  his  supreme  joy  if  he  can  but  see  its 
domes  and  towers ;  and  eternal  felicity  to  die  on  the  banks  of 
the  sacred  river. 

A  couple  of  hours  brought  us  to  the  Ganges,  from  which 
we  had  a  full  view  of  the  city  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
If  the  first  sight  did  not  awaken  in  us  the  same  emotions  as 
in  the  mind  of  the  Hindoo,  the  scene  was  picturesque  enough 
to  excite  our  admiration.  The  appearance  of  Benares  is  very 
striking.  For  two  miles  it  presents  a  succession  of  palaces 
and  temples  which  are  built  not  only  on,  but  almost  in,  the 
river,  as  Yenice  is  built  in  the  sea ;  the  huge  structures 
crowding  each  other  on  the  bank,  and  flights  of  steps  going 
down  into  the  water,  as  if  they  would  receive  the  baptism  of 
the  sacred  river  as  it  flowed  gently  by  ;  as  if  the  people  lis- 
tened fondly  to  its  murmurs,  and  when  wakened  in  their 
dreams,  were  soothed  to  hear  its  waters  lapping  the  very  stones 
of  their  palaces. 

We  crossed  the  river  ou  a  bridge  of  boats,  and  drove  out 
to  the  English  quarter,  which  is  two  or  three  miles  distant, 
and  here  rested  an  hour  or  two  before  we  took  a  courier  and 
plunged  into  the  labyrinth  of  the  city,  in  wliich  a  stranger 
would  soon  be  lost  who  should  atteiupt  to  explore  it  without 
a  guide.  Benares  would  be  well  worth  a  visit  if  it  were  only 
for  its  Oriental  character.  It  is  peculiarly  an  Indian  city, 
with  every  feature  of  Asiatic  and  of  Indian  life  strongly  mark- 
ed. Its  bazaars  are  as  curious  and  as  rich  as  any  in  Asia, 
with  shawls  of  cashmere,  and  silks  wrought  by  fine  needle- 
work into  every  article  of  costly  array.  It  has  also  cunning 
workmen  in  precious  metals  and  precious  stones — ^in  gold  and 
silver  and  diamonds.  One  special  industry  is  workmanship 
in  brass.  We  brought  away  a  number  of  large  trays,  curious- 
ly wrought  like  shields.  One  contains  a  lesson  in  Hindoo 
mythology  for  those  who  are  able  to  read  it,  as  on  it  are 
traced  all  the  incarnations  of  Vishnu. 


MARRIAGE   CUSTOMS   OF   THE   HINDOOS.  267 

While  thus  rambling  about  the  city,  we  had  an  opportun- 
ity to  see  something  of  the  marriage  customs  of  the  Hindoos, 
as  we  met  in  the  streets  a  number  of  wedding  processions. 
The  heavenly  iufluences  were  favorable  to  such  imions.  The 
Hindoos  are  great  astrologers,  and  give  high  importance  to 
the  conjunction  of  the  stars,  and  do  not  marry  except  when 
Jupiter  is  in  the  ascendant.  Just  now  he  rides  high  in  the 
heavens,  and  this  is  the  favored  time  of  love.  The  proces- 
sions were  very  curious.  The  bridegroom  was  mounted  on 
horseback,  tricked  out  in  the  dress  of  a  harlequin,  with  a 
crowd  on  Lorses  and  on  foot,  going  before  and  following  after, 
waving  flags,  beating  dnams,  and  Diaking  all  manner  of  noises, 
to  testify  their  joy ;  while  the  bride,  who  was  commonly  a 
mere  child,  was  borne  in  a  palanquin,  covered  with  ribbons 
and  trinkets  and  jewelry,  looking,  as  she  sat  xipright  in  her 
doll's  house,  much  more  as  if  she  were  a  piece  of  frosted  cake 
being  carried  to  the  wedding,  than  a  living  piece  of  flesh  and 
blood  that  had  any  part  therein.  Altogether  the  scene  was 
more  like  a  Punch-and-Judy  show,  than  any  part  of  the  seri- 
ous business  of  life.  Engagements  are  often  made  when  the 
parties  are  in  childhood,  or  even  in  infancy  ;  and  the  marriage 
consummated  at  twelve.  These  cliild- marriages  are  a  great 
curse  to  the  country,  as  they  fill  the  land  with  their  puny  off- 
spring, that  wither  like  weeds  in  the  hot  sun  of  India.  It  is  a 
pity  that  they  could  not  be  prohibited  ;  that  marriages  could 
not  be  forbidden  nntil  the  parties  had  reached  at  least  six- 
teen years  of  age. 

Another  thing  which  greatly  amused  us  was  to  see  how 
the  people  made  way  for  us  wherever  we  came.  The  streets 
are  very  narrow,  and  there  is  not  room  for  a  jostling  crowd. 
But  their  politeness  stopped  at  no  obstacle.  They  meant  to 
give  us  a  free  passage.  They  drew  to  one  side,  making  them- 
selves very  small,  and  even  hugging  the  wall,  to  get  out  of 
our  way.  "We  accepted  this  delicate  attention  as  a  mark  of 
resj)ect,  which  we  thought  a  touching  proof  of  Oriental  cour- 


268  BENARES   THE   CAPITAL   OF   HINDOOISM. 

tesy ;  and  with  the  modesty  of  our  countrymen,  regarded  it 
as  an  homage  to  our  greatness.  We  were  a  little  taken  aback 
at  being  informed  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  to  avoid  pollu- 
tion; that  if  they  but  touched  the  hem  of  our  garments, 
they  would  have  had  to  run  to  the  Ganges  to  wash  away  the 
stain  ! 

But  we  need  not  make  merry  with  these  strict  observances 
of  the  people,  for  with  them  Religion  is  the  great  business  of 
life,  and  it  is  as  the  Mecca  of  their  faith  that  Benares  has 
such  interest  for  the  intelligent  traveller.  No  city  in  India, 
perhaps  none  in  all  Asia,  dates  back  its  origin  to  a  more  re- 
mote antiquity.  It  is  the  very  Ct-adle  of  history  and  of  reli- 
gion. Here  Buddha  preached  his  new  faith  centuries  before 
Christ  was  born  in  Judea — a  faith  which  still  sways  a  larger 
part  of  mankind  than  any  other,  though  it  has  lost  its  domin- 
ion in  the  place  where  it  began.  Here  Hindooism,  once 
driven  out,  still  fought  and  conquered,  and  here  it  still  has 
its  seat,  from  which  it  rules  its  vast  and  populous  empire. 

It  is  always  interesting  to  study  a  country  or  a  religion  in 
its  capital.  As  we  go  to  Rome  to  see  Romanism,  we  come 
to  Benares  to  see  Hindooism,  expecting  to  find  it  in  its 
purest  form.  Whether  that  is  anything  to  boast  of,  we  can 
tell  better  after  we  have  seen  a  little  of  this,  its  most  holy 
city.  Benares  is  full  of  temples  and  shrines.  Of  course  we 
could  only  visit  a  few  of  the  more  sacred.  The  first  that 
■we  entered  was  like  a  menagerie.  It  was  called  the  Monkey 
Temple;  and  rightly  so,  for  the  place  was  full  of  the  little 
creatures.  It  fairly  swarmed  with  them.  They  were  over- 
head and  all  around  us,  chattering  as  if  they  were  holding  a 
council  in  the  heart  of  a  tropical  forest.  The  place  was  for 
all  the  world  like  the  monkey-house  in  the  Zoological  Gar- 
dens in  London,  or  in  our  Central  Park  in  New  York,  and 
would  be  an  amusing  resort  for  children  were  it  not  regarded 
as  a  place  for  religious  worship.  Perhaps  some  innocent 
traveller  thinks  this  a  touching  proof  of  the  charming  sim- 


THE  MONEITS-   TEMPLE.  269 

plicity  of  the  Hindoos,  that  they  wish  to  call  on  all  animated 
nature  to  nuite  in  devotion,  and  that  thus  monkeys  (speaking 
the  language  which  monkeys  understand)  are  permitted  to 
join  with  devout  Hindoos  in  the  worship  of  their  common 
Creator.  But  a  glance  shows  the  stranger  that  the  monkeys 
are  here,  not  to  worship,  but  to  be  worshipped.  According 
to  the  Pantheism  of  the  Hindoos,  all  things  are  a  part  of 
God.  Not  only  is  he  the  author  of  life,  but  he  lives  in 
his  creatures,  so  that  they  partake  of  his  divinity ;  and 
therefore  whatsoever  thing  liveth  and  moveth  on  the  earth — 
beast,  or  bird,  or  reptile — is  a  proper  object  of  worship. 

But  the  monkeys  were  respectable  compared  with  the 
hideous  idol  which  is  enthroned  in  this  place.  In  the  court 
of  the  Temple  is  a  shrine,  a  Holy  of  Holies,  where,  as  the 
gilded  doors  are  swung  open,  one  sees  a  black  divinity,  with 
thick,  sensual  lips,  that  are  red  with  blood,  and  eyes  that 
glare  fiendishly.  This  is  the  goddess  Doorgha,  whose  sacred 
presence  is  guarded  by  Brahmin  priests,  so  that  no  profane 
foot  may  come  near  her.  While  they  kept  us  back  with  holy 
horror  from  approaching,  they  had  no  scruples  about  reach- 
ing out  their  hands  to  receive  our  money.  It  is  the  habit  of 
strangers  to  drop  some  small  coin  in  the  outstretched  palius. 
But  I  was  too  much  disgusted  to  give  to  the  beggars.  They 
were  importunate,  and  said  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was 
there  a  few  days  before,  had  given  them  a  hundred  rupees. 
Perhaps  he  felt  under  a  necessity  of  paying  such  a  mark  of 
respect  to  the  religion  of  the  great  Empire  he  was  to  rule. 
But  ordinary  travellers  are  under  no  such  obligation.  The 
rascals  trade  in  the  curiosity  of  strangers.  It  might  be  well 
if  they  did  not  find  it  such  a  source  of. revenue.  So  I  would 
not  give  them  a  penny ;  though  I  confess  to  spending  a  few 
pice  on  nuts  and  "sweets"  for  the  monkeys,  who  are  the 
only  ones  entitled  to  "  tribute  "  from  visitors  ;  and  then,  re- 
turning to  the  gharri,  we  rode  disgusted  away.  In  another 
part  of  the  city  is  the  Golden  Temple,  devoted  to  the  god 


270  BATniNG   IN   THE    GANGES. 

Shiva,  which  divides  with  that  of  the  monkeys  the  hoQiage  of 
the  Hindoos.  Here  are  no  chattering  apes,  though  the  place 
is  profaned  with  the  presence  of  beasts  and  birds.  Some 
dozen  cows  were  standing  or  lying  down  in  the  court,  making 
it  seem  more  like  a  stable  or  a  bai-nyard  than  a  holy  place. 
Yet  here  was  a  fakir  rapt  in  the  ecstasies  of  devotion,  with 
one  arm  uplifted,  rigid  as  a  pillar  of  iron.  He  was  looked 
upon  with  awe  by  the  faithful  who  crowded  around  him,  and 
who  rewarded  his  sanctity  by  giving  him  money  ;  but  to  our 
profane  eyes  he  was  a  figure  of  pride  (though  disguised  under 
the  pretence  of  spirituality),  as  palpable  to  the  sight  as  the 
peacock  who  spread  his  tail  and  strutted  about  in  the  filthy 
enclosure. 

But  perhaps  the  reader  will  think  that  we  have  had  enough 
of  this,  and  will  gladly  turn  to  a  less  revolting  form  of  super- 
stition. The  great  sight  of  Benares  is  the  bathing  in  the 
Ganges.  This  takes  place  in  the  morning.  We  rose  early 
the  next  day,  and  drove  down  to  the  river,  and  getting  a 
boat,  were  rowed  slowly  for  hours  up  and  down  the  stream. 
It  is  lined  with  temples  and  palaces,  which  descend  to  the 
water  by  flights  of  steps,  or  ghauts,  which  at  this  hour  are 
thronged  with  devout  Hindoos.  By  hundreds  and  thousands 
they  come  down  to  the  river's  brink,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, and  wade  in,  not  swimming,  but  standing  in  the  water, 
plunging  their  heads  and  mumbling  their  prayers,  and  per- 
forming their  libations,  by  taking  the  water  in  their  hands, 
and  casting  it  towards  the  points  of  the  compass,  as  an  act  of 
worship  to  the  celestial  powers,  especially  to  the  sun. 

As  the  boatmen  rested  on  their  oars,  that  we  might  ob- 
serve the  strange  scene,  C —  started  with  horror  to  see  a  corpse 
in  the  water.  It  was  already  half  decayed,  and  obscene  birds 
were  fluttering  over  it.  But  this  is  too  common  a  sight  in 
Benares* to  raise  any  emotion  in  the  breast  of  the  Hindoo, 
whose  prayer  is  that  he  may  die  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges. 
Does  his  body  drift  down  with  the  stream,  or  become  food 


BURNING   OF   BODIES.  2Yl 

for  the  fowls  of  the  air,  his  soul  floats  to  its  final  I'sat  in  the 
Deity,  as  surely  as  the  Ganges  rolls  onward  to  the  sea. 

But  look!  here  is  another  scene.  We  are  approaching  the 
Burning  Ghaut,  and  I  see  piles  of  wood,  and  hiiman  bodies, 
and  smoke  and  flame.  I  bade  the  boatmen  draw  to  the  shore, 
that  we  might  have  a  clearer  view  of  this  strange  sight. 
Walking  along  the  bank,  we  came  close  to  the  funeral  piles. 
Several  were  waiting  to  be  lighted.  When  all  is  ready,  the 
nearest  male  relative  walks  round  and  round  the  pile,  and 
then  applies  to  it  a  lighted  withe  of  straw.  Here  was  a  body 
jvist  dressed  for  the  last  rites.  It  was  wrapped  in  coarse 
garments,  perhaps  all  that  affection  could  give.  Beside  it 
stood  a  woman,  watching  it  with  eager  eyes,  lest  any  rude 
hand  should  touch  the  form  which,  though  dead,  was  still 
beloved.  I  looked  with  pity  into  her  sad,  sorrowful  fiice. 
What  a  tale  of  affection  was  there  ! — of  love  for  the  life  that 
was  ended,  and  the  form  that  was  cherished,  that  was  soon 
to  be  but  ashes,  and  to  float  away  upon  the  bosom  of  the 
sacred  river. 

Another  pile  was  already  lighted,  and  burning  fiercely.  I 
stood  close  to  it,  till  driven  away  by  the  heat  and  smoke. 
As  the  flames  closed  round  the  form,  portions  of  the  body 
were  exposed.  Now  the  hair  was  consumed  in  a  flash,  leav- 
ing the  bare  skull ;  now  the  feet  showed  from  the  other  end 
of  the  pile.  It  was  a  glmstly  sight.  Now  a  hoi-rid  smell  filled 
the  air,  and  still  the  pile  glowed  like  a  furnace,  crackling 
with  the  intense  heat,  and  shot  out  tongues  of  flame  that 
seemed  eager  to  lick  up  every  drop  of  blood. 

In  this  disposal  of  the  dead  there  is  nothing  to  soothe  the 
mourner  like  a  Christian  burial,  when  the  body  is  committed 
to  the  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust,  when  a  beloved 
form  is  laid  down  under  the  gi-een  turf  gently,  as  on  a  mother's 
breast. 

The  spectacle  of  this  morning,  with  the  similar  one  at  Al- 
laliabad,  have  set  me  a-thinking.     I  ask,  What  idea  do  the 


272  WHAT   THE   GANGES   IS   TO   THE   HHSTDOOS. 

Hindoos  attach  to  bathing  in  the  Ganges  ?  Is  it  purification 
or  expiation,  or  both  ?  Is  it  the  putting  away  of  sin  by  the 
washing  of  water ;  the  cleansing  of  the  body  for  the  sins  of 
the  soul  ?  Or  is  there  in  it  some  idea  of  atonement  ?  What 
is  the  fascination  of  this  religious  observance  ?  Perhaps  no 
stranger  can  fully  understand  it,  or  enter  into  the  feeling 
with  which  the  devout  Hindoo  regards  the  sacred  river.  The 
problem  grows  the  more  we  study  it.  However  we  approach 
the  great  river  of  India,  we  find  a  wealth  of  associations 
gathering  around  it  such  as  belongs  to  no  other  river  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  No  other  is  so  intimately  connected  with 
the  history  and  the  whole  life  of  a  people.  Other  rivers  have 
poetical  or  patriotic  associations.  The  ancient  Romans  kept 
watch  on  the  Tiber,  as  the  modern  Germans  keep  watch  on 
the  Hhine.  But  these  are  associations  of  country  and  of  pa- 
triotic pi'ide — not  of  life,  not  of  existence,  not  of  religion. 
In  these  respects  the  only  river  in  the  world  which  approaches 
the  Ganges  is  the  Nile,  which,  coming  down  from  the  High- 
lands of  Central  Africa,  floods  the  long  valley,  which  it  has 
itself  made  in  the  desert,  turning  the  very  sands  into  fertility, 
and  thus  becoming  the  creator  and  life-giver  of  Egypt. 

What  the  Nile  is  to  Egypt,  the  Ganges  is  to  a  part  of 
India,  giving  life  and  verdure  to  plains  that  but  for  it  were 
a  desert.  As  it  bursts  through  the  gates  of  the  Himalayas, 
and  sweejjs  along  with  resistless  current,  cooling  with  its  icy 
breath  the  hot  plains  of  India,  and  giving  fertility  to  the  rice 
fields  of  Bengal,  it  may  well  seem  to  the  Hindoo  the  greatest 
visible  emblem  of  Almighty  power  and  Infinite  beneficence. 

But  it  is  more  than  an  emblem.  The  ancient  Egyptians 
worshipped  the  Nile  as  a  god,  and  in  this  they  had  the  same 
feeling  which  now  exists  among  the  Hindoos  in  regard  to  the 
Ganges.  It  is  not  only  a  sacred  liver  because  of  its  associa- 
tions ;  it  is  itself  Divine,  flowing,  like  the  River  of  Life  in 
the  Book  of  Revelation,  out  of  the  throne  of  God.  It  de- 
scends out  of  heaven,  rising  in  mountains  whose  tops  touch 


THE   GANGES   WASHES    AWAY   SIN.  273 

the  clouds — the  sacred  mountains  which  form  the  Hindoo 
Kylas,  or  Heaven,  the  abode  of  the  Hindoo  Trinity — of 
Brahma  and  Shiva  and  Vishnu.  Rushing  from  under  a  gla^ 
cier  in  the  region  of  everlasting  snow,  it  seems  as  if  it  gushed 
from  the  very  heart  of  the  Dweller  on  that  holy  mount ;  as 
if  that  flowing  stream  were  the  life-blood  of  the  Creator. 
When  the  Hindoo  ha-s  seized  this  idea,  it  takes  strong  hold 
of  his  imagination.  As  he  stands  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges 
at  night,  and  sees  its  broad  current  quivering  under  the  rays 
of  the  full  moon,  it  seems  indeed  as  if  it  were  the  clear  stream 
flowing  through  the  calm  breast  of  God  himself,  bearing  life 
from  Him  to  give  life  to  the  world.  Hence  in  his  creed  it 
has  all  the  virtue  and  the  "divine  power  that  belongs  in  the 
Christian  system  to  the  blood  of  Christ.  It  makes  atone- 
ment for  sins  that  are  past.  "  He  that  but  looks  on  the 
Ganges,"  says  the  Hindoo  proverb,  "  or  that  drinks  of  it, 
washes  away  the  stains  of  a  hundred  births;  but  he  that 
bathes  in  it  washes  away  the  stains  of  a  thousand  births." 
This  is  a  virtue  beyond  that  of  the  Nile,  or  the  rivers  of  Da- 
mascuSj  or  of  the  Jordan,  or  even  of 

Siloa's  brook 
That  flowed  fast  by  the  oracle  of  God. 

It  is  a  virtue  which  can  be  found  alone  in  that  blood  which 
**  cleanse th  from  all  sin." 

The  spectacle  of  such  superstition  produced  a  strong  revul- 
sion of  feeling,  and  made  me  turn  away  from  these  waters 
that  cannot  cleanse  the  guUty  soul,  nor  save  the  dying,  to 
the  Mighty  Sufferer,  whose  blood  was  shed  for  the  sins  of 
tlie  world,  and  I  seemed  to  hear  voices  in  far-off  Christian 
lands  singing : 

E'er  since  by  faith  I  saw  the  stream 

Thy  flowing  wounds  supply, 
Redeeming  love  has  been  my  theme, 

And  shall  bo  tilll  die. 
12* 


274         THE  MAHARAJAH  OF  BENARES. 

But  I  do  not  sit  in  judgment  on  the  Hindoos,  nor  include 
a  whole  people  in  one  general  condemnation.  Some  of  them 
are  as  noble  specimens  of  humanity,  with  as  much  "  natural 
goodness  "  as  can  be  found  anywhere;  and  are  even  religious 
in  their  way,  and  in  zeal  and  devotion  an  example  to  their 
Christian  neighbors.  Of  this,  a  very  striking  instance  can 
be  given  here. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Ganges  lives  a  grand  old  Hindoo, 
the  Maharajah  of  Benares,  and  as  he  is  famed  for  his  hospi- 
tality to  strangers,  we  sent  him  a  letter  by  a  messenger  (be- 
ing assured  that  that  was  the  proper  thing  to  do),  saying  that 
we  should  be  liapj)y  to  pay  our  respects  to  my  lord  in  his 
castle ;  and  in  a  few  hours  received  a  reply  that  his  carriage 
should  be  sent  to  our  hotel  for  us  the  next  morning,  and  that 
his  boat  would  convey  us  across  the  river.  We  did  not  wait 
for  the  carriage,  as  we  were  in  haste  to  depart  for  Calcutta 
the  same  forenoon,  but  rode  down  in  our  own  gharri  to  the 
river  side,  where  we  found  the  boat  awaiting  us.  On  the 
other  bank  stood  a  couple  of  elephants  of  extraordinary  size, 
that  knelt  down  and  took  us  on  their  broad  backs,  and  rolled 
off  at  a  swinging  pace  to  a  pleasant  retreat  of  the  Mahara- 
jah a  mile  or  two  from  the  river,  where  he  had  a  temple  of 
his  own,  situated  in  the  midst  of  beautiful  gardens. 

On  our  return  we  were  marched  into  the  courtyard  of  the 
castle,  where  the  attendants  received  us,  and  escorted  us 
within.  The  Maharajah  did  not  make  his  appearance,  as  it 
was  still  early,  but  his  secretary  presented  himself  to  do  the 
honors,  giving  his  master's  respects  with  his  photograph,  and 
showing  us  every  possible  courtesy.  We  were  shown  through 
the  rooms  of  state,  where  the  Prince  of  Wales  had  been  re- 
ceived a  few  weeks  before.  The  view  from  the  terrace  on 
the  river  side  is  enchanting.  It  is  dii-ectly  on  the  water,  and 
commands  a  view  up  and  down  the  Ganges  for  miles,  while 
across  the  smooth  expanse  rise  the  temples  and  palaces  of  the 
Holy  City.     What  a  place  for  a  Brahmin  to  live  or  to  die  ! 


A  DEVOUT  HINDOO.  275 

This  Maharajah  of  Benares  is  well  known  all  over  India. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Viceroy's  Council  at  Calcutta,  and 
held  in  universal  respect  by  the  English  community.  Sir 
"William  Muir,  who  is  one  of  the  most  pronounced  Christian 
men  in  India,  whom  some  would  even  call  a  Puritan  for  his 
strictness,  told  me  that  the  Maharajah  was  one  of  the  best  of 
men.  And  yet  he  is  of  the  straitest  sect  of  the  Hindoos, 
who  bathes  in  tlie  Ganges  every  morning,  and  "  does  his 
pooja."  In  all  religious  observances  he  is  most  exemplary, 
often  spending  hours  in  prayer.  The  secretary,  in  excusing 
his  master's  absence,  said  that  he  had  been  up  nearly  all 
night  engaged  in  his  devotions.  How  this  earnest  faith  in  a 
religion  so  vile  can  consist  with  a  life  so  pure  and  so  good,  is 
one  of  the  mysteries  of  this  Asiatic  world  which  I  leave  to 
those  wiser  than  I  am  to  explain. 

We  had  lingered  so  long  that  it  was  near  the  hour  of  our 
departure  for  Calcutta,  and  we  were  three  miles  up  the  river. 
The  secretary  accompanied  us  to  the  boat  of  the  Maharajah, 
which  was  waiting  for  us,  and  bade  us  farewell,  with  many 
kind  wishes  that  we  might  have  a  prosperous  journey.  Lying 
against  the  bank  was  the  gilded  barge  in  which  the  Mahara- 
jah had  received  and  escorted  the  Prince  of  Wales.  Waving 
our  adieu,  we  gave  the  signal,  and  the  boatmen  pushed  off 
into  the  stream.  It  was  now  a  race  against  time.  We  had 
a  long  stretch  to  make  in  a  very  few  minutes.  I  offered  the 
men  a  reward  if  they  should  reach  the  place  in  time.  The 
stalwart  rowers  bent  to  their  oars,  their  swarthy  limbs  mak- 
ing swift  strokes,  and  the  boat  shot  like  an  arrow  down  the 
stream.  I  stood  up  in  the  eagerness  and  excitement  of  the 
chase,  taking  a  last  look  at  the  sacred  temples  as  we  shot 
SAviftly  by.  It  wanted  but  two  or  three  minutes  of  the  hour 
as  our  little  pinnace  struck  against  the  goal  by  the  bridge  of 
boats,  and  throwing  the  rupees  to  the  boatmen,  we  hurried 
up  the  bank,  and  had  just  time  to  get  fairly  bestowed  in  the 
roomy  firBt-class  carriage,  which  we  had   all  to  ourselves, 


276  '        PHILOSOPHY   OF   HINDOOISM. 

when  the  train  started  for  Calcutta,  and  the  towers  and 
domes  and  minarets  of  the  holy  city  of  India  faded  from  our 
sight. 

Thinking !  Still  thinking  !  What  does  it  all  mean  ? 
Who  can  understand  Hindooism — where  it  begins  and  where 
it  ends  ?  It  is  like  the  fabled  tree  that  had  its  roots  down 
in  the  Kingdom  of  Death,  and  spread  its  branches  over  the 
world.  Behind  it,  or  beneath  it,  is  a  deep  philosophy,  which 
goes  down  to  the  very  beginnings  of  existence,  and  touches 
the  most  vital  problems  of  life  and  death,  of  endless  dying 
and  living.  Out  of  millions  of  ages,  after  a  million  births, 
following  each  other  in  long  succession,  at  last  man  is  cast 
upon  the  earth,  bvit  only  as  a  bird  of  passage,  darting  swiftly 
through  life,  and  then,  in  an  endless  transmigration  of  souls, 
passing  tlirough  other  stages  of  being,  till  he  is  absorbed  in 
the  Eternal  All.  Thus  does  man  find  his  way  ab  last  back 
to  God,  as  the  drop  of  water,  caught  up  by  the  sun,  lifted 
into  the  cloud,  descends  in  the  rain,  trickles  in  streams 
down  the  mountain  side,  and  finds  its  way  back  to  the  ocean. 
So  does  the  human  soul  complete  the  endless  cycle  of  exis- 
tence, coming  from  God  and  returning  to  God,  to  be  swallow- 
ed up  and  lost  in  that  Boundless  Sea. 

Much  might  be  said,  by  way  of  argument,  in  support  of 
this  pantheistic  philosophy.  But  whatever  may  be  urged  in 
favor  of  Hindooism  in  the  abstract,  its  practical  results  are 
terrible.  By  a  logic  as  close  and  irresistible  as  it  is  fatal,  it 
takes  away  the  foundation  of  all  morality,  and  strikes  down 
all  goodness  and  virtiie — all  that  is  the  glory  of  man,  and  all 
that  is  the  beauty  of  woman.  It  is  nothing  to  the  purpose 
to  quote  the  example  of  such  a  man  as  the  Maharajah  of 
Benares,  for  there  is  a  strange  alchemy  in  virtue,  by  which  a 
pure  nature,  a  high  intelligence,  and  right  moral  instincts, 
will  convert  even  the  most  pernicious  doctrines  to  the  pur- 
pose of  a  spiritual  life.  But  with  the  mass  of  Hindoos  it  is 
only  a  system  of  abject  superstition  and  terror.    As  we  rolled 


WHEN   WILL  IT  PASS   AWAY?  277 

along  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  I  thought  what  tales  that 
stream  could  tell.  Could  we  but  listen  in  the  dead  of  night, 
what  sounds  we  might  hear  !  Hush  !  hark  !  There  is  a 
footstep  on  the  shore.  The  rushes  on  the  bank  are  parted, 
and  a  Hindoo  mother  comes  to  the  water's  edge.  Look !  she 
holds  a  child  in  her  arms.  She  starts  back,  and  with  a  shriek 
casts  it  to  the  river  monsters.  Such  scenes  are  not  frequent 
now,  because  the  government  has  repressed  them  by  law, 
though  infanticide  is  fearfully  common  in  other  ways.  But 
even  yet  in  seci-et — "  darkly  at  dead  of  night " — does  fanati- 
cism sometimes  pay  its  oftering  to  the  river  which  is  wor- 
shipped as  a  god.  This  is  what  Hindooism  does  for  the  mother 
and  for  her  child.  Thus  it  wrongs  at  once  childhood  and 
motherhood  and  womanhood.  Who  that  thinks  of  such 
scenes  can  but  pray  that  a  better  faith  may  be  given  to  the 
women  of  India,  that  the  mother  may  no  longer  look  with 
anguish  into  the  face  of  her  own  child,  as  one  doomed  to 
destruction,  but  like  any  Christian  mother,  clasp  her  baby  to 
her  breast,  thanking  God  who  has  given  it  to  her,  and  bidden 
her  keep  it,  and  train  it  up  for  life,  for  virtue  and  for  hap- 
piness. 

But  is  there  any  hope  of  seeing  Hindooism  destroyed? 
I  fear  not  very  soon.  When  I  think  how  many  ages  it  has 
stood,  and  what  mighty  forces  it  has  resisted,  the  task  seems  al- 
most hopeless.  For  centuries  it  fought  with  Buddhism  for  the 
conquest  of  India,  and  remained  master  of  the  field.  Then 
came  Mohammedanism  in  the  days  of  the  Mogul  Empire.  It 
gained  a  foothold,  and  reared  its  mosques  even  in  the  Holy 
City  of  the  Hindoos.  To  this  day  the  most  splendid  structure 
in  Benares  is  the  great  Mosque  of  Aurungzebe.  As  I  climbed 
its  tall  minaret,  and  looked  over  the  city,  I  saw  here  and 
there  the  gilded  domes  and  slender  spires  that  mark  the  tem- 
ples of  Islam.  But  these  fierce  iconoclasts,  who  set  out  from 
Arabia  to  break  the  idols  in  pieces,  could  not  destroy  them 
here.      The   fanatical   Aurungzebe  could  build  his  mosque. 


278  INFLUENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

with  its  minaret  so  lofty  as  to  overtop  all  the  temples  of  Pa- 
ganism ;  but  he  could  not  convert  the  idolaters.  With  such 
tenacity  did  they  cling  to  their  faith,  that  even  the  religion 
of  the  Prophet  could  make  little  impression,  though  armed 
with  all  the  power  of  the  sword. 

And  now  come  modern  civilization  and  Christianity.  The 
work  of  "  tearing  down  "  is  not  left  to  Missions  alone.  There 
is  in  India  a  vast  system  of  National  Education.  In  Benares 
there  is  an  University  whose  stately  halls  would  not  look  out 
of  place  among  the  piles  of  Oxford.  In  the  teaching  there  is  a 
rigid — I  had  almost  said  a  religious — abstinence  from  religion. 
But  science  is  taught,  and  science  confutes  the  Hindoo  cos- 
mogony. When  it  is  written  in  the  Puranas  that  the  world 
rests  on  the  back  of  an  elephant,  and  that  the  elephant  stands 
on  the  back  of  a  tortoise,  and  the  tortoise  on  the  back  of  the 
great  serpent  Naga,  it  needs  but  a  very  little  learning  to  con- 
vince the  young  Hindoo  that  his  sacred  books  are  a  mass  of 
fables.  But  this  does  not  make  him  a  Christian.  It  lands 
him  in  infidelity,  and  leaves  him  there.  And  this  is  tlie  state 
of  the  educated  mind  of  India,  of  what  is  sometimes  designat- 
ed as  Young  India,  or  Young  Bengal.  Here  they  stand — 
deep  in  the  mire  of  unbelief,  as  if  they  had  tried  to  plant  their 
feet  on  the  low-lying  Delta  of  the  Ganges,  and  found  it  sink 
beneath  them,  with  danger  of  being  buried  in  Gangetic  ooze 
and  slime.  But  even  this  is  better  than  calling  to  gods  that 
cannot  help  them ;  for  at  least  it  may  give  them  a  sense  of 
their  weakness  and  danger.  It  may  be  that  the  educated 
mind  of  India  has  to  go  through  this  stage  of  infidelity  before 
it  can  come  into  the  light  of  a  clearer  faith.  At  present  they" 
believe  nothing,  yet  conform  to  Hindoo  customs  for  social  rea- 
sons, for  fear  of  losing  caste.  This  is  all-powerful.  It  is  hard 
for  men  to  break  away  from  it  in  detail.  But  once  that  a 
breach  is  made  in  their  ranks,  the  same  social  tyranny  may 
carry  them  over  en  masse,  so  that  a  nation  shall  be  born  in  a 
day.     At  present  the  work  that  is  going  on  is  that  of  sapping 


THE   OLD   FAITH   UNDERMINED.  279 

and  mining,  of  boring  holes  into  the  foundation  of  Hindoo- 
ism  ;  and  this  is  done  as  industriously,  and  perhaps  as  eflec- 
tively,  by  Government  schools  and  colleges  as  by  Missions. 
At  Benares  we  observed,  in  sailing  up  and  down  the 
Ganges,  that  the  river  had  undermined  a  number  of  temples 
built  upon  its  banks,  and  that  they  had  fallen  with  their  huge 
columns  and  massive  architecture,  and  were  lying  in  broken 
and  shapeless  masses,  half  covered  by  the  water.  What  a 
spectacle  of  ruin  and  decay  in  the  Holy  City  of  the  Hindoos  ! 
This  is  a  fit  illustration  of  the  process  which  has  been  going 
on  for  the  last  half  century  in  regard  to  Hindooism.  The 
waters  are  washing  it  away,  and  by  and  by  the  whole  colossal 
fabric,  built  up  in  ages  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  will 
come  crashing  to  the  earth.  Hindooism  will  fall,  and  great 
will  be  the  fall  of  it. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

CALCUTTA — FAREWELL    TO    INDIA. 

It  is  a  good  rule  in  travelling,  as  in  rhetoric,  to  keep  the 
best  to  the  last,  and  wind  up  with  a  climax.  But  it  would 
be  hard  to  find  a  climax  in  India  after  seeing  the  old  Mogul 
capitals,  whose  palaces  and  tombs  outshine  the  Alhambra ; 
after  climbing  the  Himalayas,  and  making  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  holy  city.  And  yet  one  feels  a  crescendo  of  interest  in 
approaching  the  capital.  India  has  three  capitals — Delhi, 
where  once  reigned  the  Great  Mogul,  and  which  is  still 
the  centre  of  the  Mohammedan  faith ;  Benares,  the  Mecca 
of  the  Hindoos ;  and  Calcutta,  the  capital  of  the  modern 
British  Empire.  The  two  former  we  have  seen ;  it  is 
the  last  which  is  now  before  us. 

Our  route  was  southeast,  along  the  valley  of  the  Ganges, 
and  through  the  province  of  Bengal.  What  is  the  magic 
of  a  name  ?  From  childhood  the  most  vivid  association 
I  had  with  this  part  of  India,  was  that  of  Bengal  tigers, 
which  were  the  wonder  of  every  menagerie ;  and  it  was  not 
strange  if  we  almost  expected  to  see  them  crouching  in 
the  forest,  or  gliding  away  in  the  long  gi-ass  of  the  jun- 
gle. But  Bengal  has  other  attractions  to  one  who  rides 
over  it.  This  single  province  of  India  is  five  times  as 
large  as  the  State  of  New  York.  It  is  a  vast  alluvial 
plain,  through  which  the  Ganges  pours  by  a  hundred  mouths 
to  the  sea,  its  overflow  giving  to  the  soil  a  richness  and 
fertility  like  that  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  so  that  it 
supports  a  population  equal  to  that   of  the  whole  of  the 


BENGAL ARKIVAL  AT  CALCUTTA.        281 

United  States.  The  cultivated  fields  that  we  pass  show 
the  natural  wealth  of  the  country,  as  the  frequent  towns 
show  the  density  of  the  population.  Of  these  the  largest  is 
Patna,  the  centre  of  the  opium  culture.  -But  we  did  not 
stop  anywhere,  for  the  way  was  long.  From  Benares  to 
Calcutta  is  over  four  hundred  miles,  or  about  as  far  as 
from  New  York  city  to  Niagara  Falls.  We  started  at  elev- 
en o'clock,  and  kept  steadily  travelling  all  day.  Night  fell, 
and  the  moon  rose  over  the  plains  and  the  palm  groves,  and 
still  we  fled  on  and  on,  as  if  pursued  by  the  storm  spirits  of 
the  Hindoo  Kylas,  till  the  morning  broke,  and  found  us  on 
the  banks  of  a  great  river  filled  with  shipping,  and  opposite 
to  a  great  city.  This  was  the  Hoogly,  one  of  the  mouths  of 
the  Ganges,  and  thei-e  was  Calcutta  !  A  carriage  whirled  us 
swiftly  across  the  bridge,  and  up  to  the  Great  Eastern  Hotel, 
where  we  were  glad  to  rest,  after  ti*avelling  three  thousand 
miles  in  India,  and  to  exchange  even  the  most  luxui-ious 
railway  carriage  for  beds  and  baths,  and  the  comforts  of  civ- 
ilization. The  hotel  stands  opposite  the  Government  House, 
the  residence  of  the  Viceroy  of  India,  and  supplies  every- 
thing necessary  to  the  dignity  of  a  "  burra  Sahib."  Soft- 
footed  Hindoos  glided  silently  about,  watching  our  eveiy  mo- 
tion, and  profoundly  anxious  for  the  honor  of  being  our  ser- 
vants. A  stalwart  native  slept  on  the  mat  before  my  door, 
and  attended  on  my  going  out  and  my  coming  in,  as  if  I  had 
been  a  gi-and  dignitary  of  the  Empire, 

Calcutta  beai-s  a  proud  name  in  the  East — that  of  the  City 
of  Palaces — from  which  a  traveller  is  apt  to  experience 
a  feeling  of  disappointment.  And  yet  the  English  por- 
tion of  the  city  is  sufficiently  grand  to  make  it  worthy  to 
rank  with  the  second  class  of  European  capitals.  The  Gov- 
ei'nment  House,  from  its  very  size,  has  a  massive  and  stately 
appearance,  and  the  other  public  buildings  are  of  correspond- 
ing proportions.  The  principal  street,  called  the  Chow- 
ringhee   road,  is  lined  for  two   mUes  with   the   handsome 


282  BEAUTY   OF   THE   CITY. 

houses  of  government  officials  or  wealthy  English  residents. 
But  the  beauty  of  Calcutta  is  the  grand  esplanade,  called  the 
Maidan — an  open  space  as  large  as  our  Central  Park  in 
New  York  ;  beginning  at  the  Government  House,  and  reach- 
ing to  Fort  William,  and  beyond  it ;  stretching  for  two 
or  three  miles  along  tlie  river,  and  a  mile  back  from  it  to  the 
mansions  of  the  Chowringhee  Road.  This  is  an  immense  pa- 
rade-ground for  military  and  other  displays.  Here  and  there 
are  statues  of  men  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
history  of  British  India.  Tropical  plants  and  trees  give  to 
the  landscape  their  rich  masses  of  color  and  of  shade,  while 
under  them  and  around  them  is  spread  that  carpet  of  green 
so  dear  to  the  eyes  of  an  Englishman  in  any  part  of  the 
world — a  wide  sweep  of  soft  and  smooth  English  turf.  Here 
at  sunset  one  may  witness  a  scene  nowhere  equalled  except  in 
the  great  capitals  of  Europe.  In  the  middle  of  the  day  the 
place  is  deserted,  except  by  natives,  whom,  being  "  children 
of  the  sun,"  he  does  not  "  smite  by  day,"  though  the  moon 
may  smite  them  by  night.  The  English  residents  are  shut 
closely  within  doors,  where  they  seek,  by  the  waving  of 
punkas,  and  by  admitting  the  air  only  through  mats  drip- 
ping with  water,  to  mitigate  the  terrible  heat.  But  as  the 
sun  declines,  and  the  palms  begin  to  cast  their  shadows 
across  the  plain,  and  a  cool  breeze  comes  in  from  the  sea,  the 
whole  English  woi-ld  pours  forth.  The  carriage  of  the  Vice- 
roy rolls  out  from  under  the  arches  of  the  Government 
House,  and  the  other  officials  are  abroad.  A  stranger  is  sui*- 
prised  at  the  number  of  dashing  equipages,  with  postilions 
and  servants  in  liveries,  furnished  by  this  foreign  city. 
These  are  not  all  English.  Native  princes  and  wealthy  ba- 
boos  vie  with  Englishmen  in  the  bravery  of  their  equipages, 
and  give  to  the  scene  a  touch  of  Oriental  splendor.  Officers 
on  horseback  dash  by,  accompanied  often  by  fair  English 
faces ;  while  the  band  from  Fort  William  plays  the  martial 
airs  of  England.     It  is  indeed  a  brilliant  spectacle,  which, 


ATTKACTIONS   TO   EUK0PKAJJ8.  283 

but  for  the  turbans  and  the  swarthy  faces  under  them,  would 
make  the  traveller  imagine  himself  iu  Hyde  Park. 

From  this  single  picture  it  is  easy  to  see  why  Calcutta  is  to 
an  Englishman  the  most  attractive  place  of  residence  in 
India,  or  in  all  the  East.  It  is  more  like  London.  It  is  a 
great  capital — the  capital  of  the  Indian  Empire  ;  the  seat  of 
government ;  the  residence  of  the  Viceroy,  around  whom  is 
assembled  a  kind  of  viceregal  court,  composed  of  all  the  high 
oflScials,  both  civil  and  military.  There  is  an  Ai'my  and 
Navy  Club,  where  one  may  meet  many  old  soldiers  who  have 
seen  service  in  the  Indian  wars,  or  wlio  hold  high  appoint- 
ments in  the  present,  force.  The  assemblage  of  such  a  num- 
ber of  notable  men  makes  a  large  and  brilliant  English  so- 
ciety. 

Nor  is  it  confined  to  army  officers  or  government  officials. 
Connected  with  the  different  colleges  are  men  who  are  dis- 
tinguished Oriental  scholars.  Then  there  is  a  Bishop  of  Cal- 
cutta, who  is  the  Primate  of  India,  with  his  clergy,  and  Eng- 
lish and  American  missionaries,  who  make  altogether  a  very 
miscellaneous  society.*    Here  Macaulay  lived  for  three  years 

*  There  are  not  many  Americans  in  Calcutta,  and  as  they  are  few, 
we  are  the  more  concerned  that  they  should  be  respectable,  and  not 
dishonor  our  national  character.  Sometimes  I  am  told  we  have  had 
representatives  of  whom  we  had  no  reason  to  be  proud.  We  are  now 
most  fortunate  in  our  Consul,  General  Litchfield,  a  gentleman  of  ex- 
cellent character,  who  is  very  obliging  to  his  countrymen,  and  com- 
mands in  a  high  degree  the  respect  of  the  English  community. 
There  is  here  also  an  American  pastor,  Dr.  Thorburn,  who  is  very 
popular,  and  whose  people  are  building  him  a  new  church  while  he 
is  absent  on  a  visit  to  his  own  country ;  and  what  attracts  a  stranger 
still  more,  an  excellent  family  of  American  ladies,  engaged  in  the 
Zenana  Mission,  which  is  designed  to  reach  Hindoo  women,  who,  as 
they  live  in  strict  seclusion,  can  never  hear  of  Christianity  except 
through  those  of  their  own  sex.  This  hospitable  "Home  "was 
made  ours  for  a  part  of  the  time  that  we  were  in  Calcutta,  for  which, 
and  for  all  the  kindness  of  these  excellent  ladies,  we  hold  it  in  g^rato- 
ful  remembrance. 


284  DRAWBACKS   TO   LIFE   IN   INDIA. 

as  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  and  was  the  centre 
of  a  society  which,  if  it  lacked  other  attractions,  must  have 
found  a  constant  stimulus  in  his  marvellous  conversation. 

And  yet  with  all  these  attractions  of  Calcutta,  English  re- 
sidents still  pine  for  England.  One  can  hardly  converse 
with  an  English  oflScer,  without  finding  that  it  is  his  dream 
to  get  through  with  his  term  of  service  as  soon  as  he  may, 
and  return  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  in  his  dear  native 
island.  Even  Macaulay — with  all  the  resoiu-ces  that  he  had 
in  himself,  with  all  that  he  found  Anglo-Indian  society,  and 
all  that  he  made  it — regarded  life  in  India  as  only  a  splen- 
did exile. 

The  climate  is  a  terrible  drawback.  Think  of  a  country, 
where  in  the  hot  season  the  mercury  lises  to  117-120°  in  the 
shade  ;  while  if  the  thermometer  be  exposed  to  the  sun,  it 
quickly  mounts  to  150,  160,  or  even  170°! — a  heat  to  which 
no  European  can  be  exposed  for  half  an  hour  without  danger 
of  sunstroke.  Such  is  the  heat  that  it  drives  the  government 
out  of  Calcutta  for  half  the  year.  For  six  months  the  Vice- 
roy and  his  staff  emigrate,  bag  and  baggage,  going  up  the 
country  twelve  hundred  miles  to  Simla,  on  the  first  range  of 
the  Himalayas,  which  is  about  as  if  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  his  Cabinet  should  leave  Washington  on 
the  first  of  May,  and  transfer  the  seat  of  government  to  some 
high  point  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

But  the  climate  is  not  the  only,  nor  the  chief,  drawback 
to  life  in  India.  It  is  the  absence  from  home,  from  one's 
country  and  people,  which  makes  it  seem  indeed  like  exile. 
Make  the  best  of  it,  Calcutta  is  not  London.  What  a  man 
like  Macaulay  misses,  is  not  the  English  climate,  with  its 
rains  and  fogs,  but  the  intellectual  life,  which  centres  in  the 
British  capital.  It  was  this  which  made  him  write  to  his 
sister  that  "  A  lodgings  up  three  pairs  of  stairs  in  London 
was  better  than  a  palace  in  a  compound  at  Chowringhee." 
I  confess  I  cannot  understand  how  any  man,  who  has  a  re- 


GEEAT   FIELD   FOE   USEFULNESS.  285 

Bpectable  position  in  his  own  country,  should  choose  Calcutta, 
or  any  other  part  of  India,  as  a  place  of  residence,  except  for 
a  time ;  as  a  merchant  goes  abroad  for  a  few  years,  in  the 
hope  of  such  gain  as  shall  enable  him  to  return  and  live  in 
independence  in  England  or  America ;  or  as  a  soldier  goes 
to  a  post  of  duty  ("  Not  his  to  ask  the  reason  why  ")  ;  or  as 
a  missionary,  with  the  purely  benevolent  desire  of  doing 
good,  for  which  he  accepts  this  voluntary  exile. 

But  if  a  man  has  grown,  by  any  mental  or  moral  process,  to 
the  idea  that  life  is  not  given  him  mei-ely  for  enjoyment ; 
that  its  chief  end  is  not  to  make  himself  comfortable — to  sit 
at  home  in  England,  and  hear  the  storm  roar  around  the 
British  Islands,  and  thank  God  that  he  is  safe,  though  all  the 
rest  of  the  world  should  perish  ;  if  he  but  once  recognize 
the  fact  that  he  has  duties,  not  only  to  himself,  but  to  man- 
kind ;  then  for  such  a  man  there  is  not  on  the  round  globe  a 
broader  or  nobler  field  of  labor  than  India.  For  an  English 
statesman,  however  great  his  talents  or  boundless  his  ambi- 
tion, one  cannot  conceive  of  a  higher  place  on  the  earth  than 
that  of  the  Viceroy  of  India.  He  is  a  ruler  over  more  than 
two  hundred  millions  of  human  beings,  to  whose  welfare  he  may 
contribute  by  a  wise  and  just  administration.  What  immeas- 
urable good  may  be  wrought  by  a  Governor-General  like  Lord 
William  Bentinck,  of  whom  it  was  said  that  "  he  was  William 
Penn  on  the  throne  of  the  Great  Mogul."  A  share  in  this  bene- 
ficent rule  belongs  to  every  Englishman  who  holds  a  place  in 
the  government  of  India.  He  is  in  a  position  of  power,  and 
therefore  of  responsibility.  To  such  men  is  entrusted  the  pro- 
tection, the  safety,  the  comfort,  and  the  happiness  of  multi- 
tudes of  their  fellow-men,  to  whom  they  are  bound,  if  not  by 
national  ties,  yet  by  the  ties  of  a  common  humanity. 

And  for  those  who  have  no  official  position,  who  have 
neither  place  nor  power,  but  who  have  intelligence  and  a  de- 
sire to  do  good  on  a  wide  scale,  India  oflers  a  field  as  broad 
as  their  ambition,  where,  either  as  moral  or  intellectual  in- 


286  ENGLISH   COLLEGES   AND    SCHOOLS. 

sfcrucfcors,  as  professors  of  science  or  teachers  of  religion,  they 
may  contribute  to  the  welfare  of  a  great  people.  India  is  a 
country  where,  more  than  in  almost  any  other  in  the  world, 
European  civilization  comes  in  contact  with  Asiatic  barbar- 
ism. Its  geographical  position  illustrates  its  moral  and  in- 
tellectual position.  It  is  a  peninsula  sti-etched  out  from  the 
lower  part  of  Asia  into  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  great  seas  dash 
against  it  on  one  side  and  on  the  other.  So,  intellectually 
and  morally,  is  it  placed  "  where  two  seas  meet,"  where  mod- 
ern science  attacks  Hindooism  on  one  side,  and  Christianity 
attacks  it  on  the  other. 

In  this  conflict  English  intelligence  has  already  done  much 
for  the  intellectual  emancipation  of  the  people  from  childish 
ignorance  and  folly.  In  Calcutta  there  are  a  number  of 
English  schools  and  colleges,  which  are  thronged  with  young 
Bengalees,  the  flower  of  the  city  and  the  province,  who  are 
instructed  in  the  principles  of  modern  science  and  philosophy. 
The  eflfect  on  the  mind  of  Young  Bengal  has  been  very  great. 
An  English  education  has  accomplished  all  that  was  expected 
from  it,  except  the  overthrow  of  idolatry,  and  here  it  has  con- 
spicuously failed. 

When  Macaulay  was  in  India,  he  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  perfecting  the  system  of  National  Education,  from 
which  he  expected  the  greatest  results ;  which  he  believed 
would  not  only  All  the  ignorant  and  vacant  minds  of  the 
Hindoos  with  the  knowledge  of  modern  science,  but  would 
uproot  the  old  idolatry.  In  the  recently  published  volumes  of 
his  letters  is  one  to  his  father,  dated  Calcutta,  Oct.  12,  1836, 
in  which  he  says  : 

"  Our  English  schools  are  flourishing  wonderfully.  We  find  it 
difficult — in  some  places  impossible — to  provide  instruction  for  all 
who  want  it.  At  the  single  town  of  Hoogly  1400  boys  are  learning 
English.  The  effect  of  this  education  on  the  Hindoos  is  prodigious. 
No  Hindoo  who  has  received  an  English  education  ever  remains  sin- 
cerely attached  to  his  religion.     Some  continue  to  profess  it  as  a 


DO  NOT  DE8TE0Y  IDOLATRY.  287 

matter  of  policy  ;  but  many  profess  themselves  pure  Deists,  and 
some  embrace  Christianity.  It  is  my  firm  belief  that,  if  our  plans  of 
education  are  followed  up,  there  will  not  be  a  single  idolater  among 
the  reputable  classes  in  Bengal  thirty  years  hence.  And  this  wiU  be 
effected  without  any  efforts  to  proselytize  ;  without  the  smallest  in- 
terference with  religious  liberty  ;  merely  by  the  natural  operation  of 
knowledge  and  reflection." 

These  sanguine  expectations  have  been  utterly  disappointed. 
Since  that  letter  was  written,  forty  years  have  passed,  and 
every  year  has  turned  out  great  numbers  of  educated  young 
men,  instructed  in  all  the  principles  of  modern  science ;  and  yet 
the  hold  of  Hindooism  seems  as  sti-ong  as  ever.  I  find  it 
here  in  the  capital,  as  well  as  in  the  provinces,  and  I  do 
not  find  that  it  is  any  better  by  coming  in  contact  with  mod- 
ern civilization.  Nothing  at  Benares  was  more  repulsive 
and  disgusting  than  what  one  sees  here.  The  deity  most 
worshipped  in  Calcutta  is  the  goddess  Kali,  who  indeed  gives 
name  to  the  city,  which  is  Anglicized  from  KaK-ghat.  She 
delights  in  blood,  and  is  propitiated  only  by  constant  sacri- 
fices. As  one  takes  his  morning  drive  along  the  streets  lead- 
ing to  her  shrine,  he  sees  them  filled  with  young  goats,  who 
are  driven  to  the  sacred  enclosure,  which  is  like  a  butcher's 
shambles,  so  constantly  are  the  heads  dropping  on  the  pave- 
ment, which  is  kept  wet  with  blood.  She  is  the  patron  of 
thieves  and  robbers,  the  one  to  whom  the  Thugs  always  made 
offerings,  in  setting  out  on  theii*  expeditions  for  murder.  No 
doubt  the  young  men  educated  in  the  English  colleges  despise 
this  honid  worship.  Yet  in  their  indifference  to  all  religion, 
they  tliink  it  better  to  keep  up  an  outward  show  of  confonn- 
ity,  to  retain  the  respect,  or  at  least  the  good  will,  of  their 
Hindoo  countrymen,  among  whom  it  is  the  very  fii'st  condi- 
tion of  any  social  recognition  whatever,  that  they  shall  not 
break  away  from  the  religion  of  their  ancestors. 

How  then  are  they  to  be  reached  ?  The  Christian 
schools '  educate  the  very  young ;  and  the  orphanages  take 


288      THE    BEAIIMO    SOMAJ— KESIIOOB   CIIDNDEK   SEN. 

neglected  children  and  train  them  from  the  beginning.  But 
for  young  men  who  are  already  educated  in  the  government 
colleges,  is  there  any  way  of  reaching  them  f  None,  except 
that  of  open,  direct,  manly  argument.  Several  years  since 
President  Seelye  of  Amherst  College  visited  India,  and 
here  addressed  the  educated  Hindoos,  both  in  Calcutta  and 
Bombay,  on  the  claims  of  the  Christian  religion.  He  was 
received  with  perfect  courtesy.  Large  audiences  assembled 
to  hear  him,  and  listened  with  the  utmost  respect.  What 
impression  he  produced,  I  cannot  say ;  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  this  is  "  the  way  to  do  it,"  or  at  least  one  way,  and  a 
way  which  gives  good  hope  of  success. 

In  fighting  this  battle  against  idolatry,  I  think  we  should 
■welcome  aid  from  any  quarter,  whether  it  be  evangelical  or 
not.  While  in  Calcutta,  I  paid  a  visit  to  Keshoob  Chunder 
Sen,  whose  name  is  well  known  in  England  from  a  visit  which 
he  made  some  years  ago,  as  the  leader  of  the  Brahrao  Somaj. 
I  found  him  surrounded  by  his  pupils,  to  whom  he  was  giv- 
ing instruction.  He  at  once  interrupted  his  teaching  for  the 
pleasure  of  a  conversation,  to  which  all  listened  apparently 
with  great  interest.  He  is  in  his  creed  an  Unitarian,  so  far 
as  he  adopts  the  Christian  faith.  He  recognizes  the  unity  of 
God,  and  gives  supreme  importance  to  prayer.  The  inter- 
view impressed  me  both  with  his  ability  and  his  sincerity. 
I  cannot  agree  with  some  of  my  missionary  friends  who  look 
upon  him  with  suspicion,  because  he  does  not  go  far  enough. 
On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  a  matter  of  congratulation  that 
he  has  come  as  far  as  he  has,  and  I  should  be  glad  if  he  could 
get  Young  Bengal  to  follow  him.  But  I  do  not  think  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  has  made  great  progress.  It  has  scattered 
adherents  in  different  parts  of  India,  but  the  whole  number 
of  followers  is  small  compared  with  the  masses  that  cling  to 
their  idols.  He  frankly  confessed  that  the  struggle  was  very 
unequal,  that  the  power  of  the  old  idolatry  was  tremendous, 
and  especially  that  the  despotism  of  caste  was  terrific.     To 


DR.    CAKEY  AT   8ERAMP0RE.  289 

break  away  from  it,  required  a  degree  of  moral  courage  that 
was  very  rare.  The  great  obstacle  to  its  overthrow  was  a 
social  one,  and  grew  out  of  the  extreme  anxiety  of  Hindoo 
parents  for  the  marriage  of  their  children.  If  they  once 
broke  away  from  caste,  it  was  all  over  with  them.  They 
were  literally  outcasts.  Kobody  would  speak  to  them,  and 
they  and  their  children  were  delivered  over  to  one  common 
cui-se.  This  social  ostracism  impending  over  them,  is  a  ter- 
ror which  even  educated  Hindoos  dare  not  face.  And  so 
they  conform  outwardly,  while  they  despise  inwardly. 
Hence,  Keshoob  Chunder  Sen  deserves  all  honor  for  the 
stand  he  has  taken,  and  ought  to  receive  the  cordial  suppoi*t 
of  the  English  and  Christian  community.  » 

What  I  have  seen  in  Calcutta  and  elsewhere  satisfies  me 
that  in  all  wise  plans  for  the  regeneration  of  India,  Christian 
missions  must  be  a  necessary  j)art.  One  cannot  remember 
but  with  a  feeling  of  shame,  how  slow  was  England  to  re- 
ceive missionaries  into  her  Indian  Empire.  The  first  attempt 
of  the  English  Church  to  send  a  few  men  to  India  was 
met  with  an  outcry  of  disapprobation.  Sydney  Smith  hoped 
the  Government  would  send  the  missionaries  .home.  When 
Carey  first  landed  on  these  shores,  he  could  not  stay  in  Brit- 
ish tei-ritory,  but  had  to  take  refuge  at  Sorampore,  a  Danish 
settlement  a  few  miles  from  Calcutta,  where  he  wrought  a 
work  which  makes  that  a  place  of  pilgrimage  to  every  Chris- 
tian traveller  in  India.  We  spent  a  day  there,  going  over 
the  field  of  his  labor.  He  is  dead,  but  his  work  survives. 
There  he  opened  schools  and  founded  a  college,  the  fii-st  of 
its  kind  in  India  (unless  it  were  the  government  college  of 
Fort  William  in  Calcutta,  in  which  he  was  also  a  pro- 
fessor), and  which  led  the  way  for  the  establishment  of  that 
magnificent  system  of  National  Education  which  is  now  the 
glory  of  India. 

What  Carey  was  in  his  day,  Dr.  Duff  in  Calcutta  and  Dr. 
WUson  in  Bombay  were  a  generation  later,  vigorous  advo- 


290  STUDENTS  AT  THK  COLLEGES. 

cates  of  education  as  an  indispensable  means  to  quicken  the 
torpid  mind  of  India.  They  were  the  trusted  advisers  and 
counsellors  of  the  government  in  organizing  the  present 
system  of  National  Education.  This  is  but  one  of  many 
benefits  for  which  this  country  has  to  thank  missionaries. 
And  if  ever  India  is  to  be  so  renovated  as  to  enter  into  the 
family  of  civilized  and  Christian  nations,  it  will  be  largely  by 
their  labors.  One  thing  is  certain,  that  mere  education  will 
not  convert  the  Hindoo.  The  experiment  has  been  tried  and 
failed.  Some  other  and  more  powerful  means  must  be  taken 
to  quicken  the  conscience  of  a  nation  deadened  by  ages  of 
false  religion — a  religion  utterly  fatal  to  spiritual  life.  That 
such  a  change  may  come  speedily,  is  devoutly  to  be  wished. 
No  intelligent  traveller  can  visit  India,  and  spend  here  two 
months,  without  feeling  the  deepest  interest  in  the  country 
and  its  people.  Our  interest  grew  with  every  week  of  our 
stay,  and  was  strongest  as  we  were  aboiit  to  leave. 

The  last  night  that  we  were  in  Calcutta,  it  was  my  privi- 
lege to  address  the  students  at  one  of  the  Scotch  colleges. 
The  hall  was  crowded,  and  I  have  seldom,  if  ever,  spoken  to 
a  finer  body  of  young  men.  These  young  Bengalees  had 
many  of  them  heads  of  an  almost  classical  beauty ;  and  with 
their  grace  of  person  heightened  by  their  flowing  white 
robes,  they  presented  a  beautiful  array  of  young  scholars, 
such  as  might  delight  the  eyes  of  any  instructor  who  should 
have  to  teach  them  "  Divine  philosophy."  My  heart  "  went 
out "  to  them  very  warmly,  and  as  that  was  ray  last  impres- 
sion of  India,  I  left  it  with  a  very  different  feeling  from  that 
with  which  I  entered  it — with  a  dqgree  of  respect  for  its 
people,  and  of  interest  in  them,  which  I  humbly  conceive  is 
the  very  first  condition  of  doing  them  any  good. 

It  was  Sunday  evening :  the  ship  on  which  we  were  to 
embark  for  Burmah  was  to  sail  at  daybreak,  and  it  was  nec- 
essary to  go  on  board  at  once.  So  hardly  had  we  returned 
from  our  evening  service,  before  we  drove  down  to  the  river. 


FAEKWELL   TO    INDIA.  291 

The  steamer  lay  off  in  the  stream,  the  tide  was  out,  and  even 
the  native  boats  could  not  come  up  to  whei'e  we  could  step 
on  board.  But  the  inevitable  coolies  were  there,  their  long 
naked  legs  sinking  in  the  mud,  who  took  us  on  their  brawny 
backs,  and  carried  us  to  the  boats,  and  in  this  dignified  man- 
ner we  took  our  departure  from  India. 

The  next  morning,  as  we  went  on  deck,  the  steamer  was 
dropping  down  the  river.  The  guns  of  Fort  William  were 
firing  a  salute;  at  Garden  Reach  we  passed  the  palace  of  the 
King  of  Oude,  where  this  deposed  Indian  sovereign  still 
keeps  his  royal  state  among  his  serpents  and  his  tigers.  We 
were  all  day  long  steaming  down  the  Hoogly.  The  country 
is  very  flat ;  there  is  nothing  to  break  the  monotony  of  its 
swamps  and  jungles,  its  villages  of  mud  standing  amid  rice 
fields  and  palm  gi-oves.  As  we  approach  the  sea  the  river 
divides  into  many  channels,  like  the  lagoons  of  Venice.  All 
around  are  low  lying  islands,  which  now  and  then  are  swept 
by  terrible  cyclones  that  come  up  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 
At  present  their  shores  are  overgrown  with  jungles,  the 
home  of  wild  beasts,  of  serpents,  and  crocodiles,  of  all  slimy 
and  deadly  things,  the  monsters  of  the  land  and  sea.  Through 
a  net-work  of  such  lagoons,  we  glide  out  into  the  deep ; 
slowly  the  receding  shores  sink  till  they  are  submerged,  as  if 
they  were  drowned ;  we  have  left  India  behind,  and  all 
around  is  only  a  watery  horizon. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


BURMAH,  OR   FARTHER    INDIA. 


In  America  we  speak  of  the  Far  West,  which  is  an  unde- 
fined region,  constantly  receding  in  the  distance.  So  in  Asia 
there  is  a  Far  and  Farther  East,  ever  coming  a  little  nearer 
to  the  rising  sun.  When  we  have  done  with  India,  there  is 
still  a  Farther  India  to  be  "seen  and  conquered."  On  the 
other  side  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal  is  a  country,  which,  tliough 
called  India,  and  under  the  East  Indian  Government,  is  not 
India.  The  very  face  of  nature  is  different.  It  is  a  country 
not  of  vast  plains,  but  of  mountains  and  valleys,  and  springs 
that  run  among  the  hills ;  a  country  with  another  people 
than  India,  another  language,  and  another  religion.  Looking 
upon  the  map  of  Asia,  one  sees  at  its  southeastern  extremity 
a  long  peninsula,  reaching  almost  to  the  equator,  with  a  cen- 
tral range  of  mountains,  an  Aljiine  chain,  which  runs  through 
its  whole  length,  as  the  Apennines  run  through  Italy.  This 
is  the  Malayan  peninsula,  on  one  side  of  which  is  Burmah, 
and  on  the  other,  Siam,  the  land  of  the  White  Elephant. 

Such  was  the  "  i;ndiscovered  country "  before  us,  as  we 
went  on  deck  of  the  good  ship  Malda,  four  days  out  from 
Calcutta,  and  found  her  entering  the  mouth  of  a  river  which 
once  bore  the  proud  name  of  the  River  of  Gold,  and  was  said 
to  flow  through  a  land  of  gold.  These  fabled  riches  have 
disappeared,  but  the  majestic  river  still  flows  on,  broad- 
bosomed  like  the  NUe,  and  which  of  itself  might  make  the 
riches  of  a  country,  as  the  Nile  makes  the  riches  of  Egypt. 


THE  IKRAWADDY — RANGOON.  293 

This  is  the  mighty  Irrawaddy,  one  of  the  great  rivers  of 
Eastern  Asia ;  which  takes  its  rise  in  the  western  part  of 
Thibet,  not  far  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Indus,  and  runs 
along  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas,  till  it  turns 
south,  and  winding  its  way  through  the  passes  of  the  lofty 
mountains,  debouches  into  Lower  Burmah,  where  it  divides 
into  two  large  branches  like  the  Nile,  making  a  Delta  of  ten 
thousand  square  miles — larger  than  the  Delta  of  Egypt — 
whose  inexhaustible  fertility,  yielding  enormous  rice  harvests, 
has  more  than  once  relieved  a  famine  in  Bengal. 

On  the  Irrawaddy,  twenty-five  miles  from  the  sea,  stands 
Rangoon,  the  capital  of  British  Burmah,  a  city  of  nearly  a 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  As  we  approach  it,  the  most 
conspicuous  object  is  the  Great  Pagoda,  the  largest  in 
the  world,  which  is  a  signal  that  we  are  not  only  in  a 
new  country,  but  one  that  has  a  new  religion — not  Brahmin, 
but  Buddhist — whose  towering  pagodas,  with  their  gilded 
roofs,  take  the  place  of  Hindoo  temples  and  Mohammedan 
mosques.  Rangoon  boasts  a  great  antiquity ;  it  is  said 
to  have  been  founded  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ,  but 
its  new  masters,  the  English,  with  their  spirit  of  improve- 
ment, have  given  it  quite  a  modern  appearance.  Large 
steamers  in  the  river  and  warehouses  along  its  bank,  show 
that  the  spirit  of  modern  enterprise  has  invaded  even  this 
distant  part  of  Asia. 

Burmah  is  a  country  with  a  history,  dating  back  far  into 
the  past.  It  was  once  the  seat  of  a  great  empire,  with 
a  population  many  fold  larger  than  now.  In  the  interior  are 
to  be  found  ruins  like  those  in  the  interior  of  Cambodia, 
which  mark  the  sites  of  ancient  cities,  and  attest  the  great- 
ness of  an  empire  that  has  long  since  passed  away.  This  is  a 
subject  for  the  antiquarian  ;  but  I  am  more  interested  in  its 
present  condition  and  its  future  prospects  than  its  past  his- 
tory. Burmah  is  now  a  part  of  the  great  English  Empire  in 
the  East,  and  it  has  been  the  scene  of  events  which  make  a 


294  RANGOON — GOVERNMENT   HOUSE. 

very  thrilling  chapter  in  the  history  of  American  Missions. 
Remembering  this,  as  soon  as  we  got  on  shore  we  took  a 
gharri,  and  rode  off  to  find  the  Amei-ican  missionaries, 
of  whom  and  of  their  work  I  shall  have  more  to  say.  We 
brought  a  letter  also  to  the  Chief  Commissioner,  Mr.  Rivers 
Thompson,  who  invited  us  to  be  his  guests  while  in  Rangoon. 
This  gentleman  is  a  representative  of  the  best  class  of  Eng- 
lish ofiicials  in  the  East,  of  those  conscientious  and  labori- 
ous men,  trained  in  the  civil  service  in  India,  whose  intelli- 
gence and  experience  make  the  English  rule  such  a  blessing 
to  that  country.  The  presence  of  a  man  of  such  character 
and  such  intelligence  in  a  position  of  such  power — for  he  is 
virtually  the  ruler  of  Burmah — is  the  greatest  benefit  to  the 
country.  We  shall  long  remember  him  and  his  excellent 
wife — a  true  Englishwoman — for  their  courtesy  and  hospital- 
ity, which  made  our  visit  to  Rangoon  so  pleasant.  The  Gov- 
ernment House  is  out  of  the  city,  surrounded  partly  by  the 
natural  forest,  which  was  alive  with  monkeys,  that  were 
perched  in  the  trees,  and  leaping  from  branch  to  branch. 
One  species  of  them  had  a  very  wild  and  plaintive  cry, 
almost  like  that  of  a  human  creature  in  distress.  It  is  said 
to  be  the  only  animal  whose  notes  range  through  the  whole 
scale.  It  begins  low,  and  rises  rapidly,  till  it  reaches  a  pitch 
at  which  it  sounds  like  a  far-off  wail  of  sorrow.  Every 
morning  we  were  awakened  by  the  singing  of  birds,  the  first 
sound  in  the  forest,  with  which  there  came  through  the  open 
windows  a  cool,  delicious  air,  laden  with  a  dewy  freshness  as 
of  Spring,  the  exquisite  sensation  of  a  morning  in  the  tropics. 
Then  came  the  tramp  of  soldiers  along  the  walk,  changing 
guard.  In  the  midst  of  these  strange  surroundings  stood  the 
beautiful  English  home,  with  all  its  culture  and  refinement, 
and  the  morning  and  evening  prayers,  that  were  a  sweeter 
incense  to  the  Author  of  so  much  beauty  than  "  the  spicy 
breezes  that  blow  soft  o'er  Ceylon's  isle."  The  evening  drive 
to  the  public  gardens,  where  a  band  of  music  was  playing, 


BEAUTY   OF   BURMAH.  295 

gave  one  a  sight  of  the  English  residents  of  Rangoon,  and 
made  even  an  American  feel,  in  hearing  his  familiar  tongue, 
that  he  was  not  alogether  a  sti-anger  in  a  strange  land.  The 
Commissioner  gave  me  his  Report  on  British  Burmah,  made 
to  the  Government  of  India.  It  fills  a  large  octavo  volume, 
and  in  reading  it,  one  is  surprised  to  learn  the  extent  of  the 
country,  which  is  twice  as  large  as  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  its  great  natural  wealth  in  its  soil  and  its  forests — the 
resources  for  supporting  a  dense  population. 

I  found  the  best  book  on  Burmah  was  by  an  American 
missionary.  Dr.  Mason,  who,  while  devoted  to  his  religious 
work,  had  the  tastes  of  a  naturalist,  and  wrote  of  the  country 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  poet  and  a  man  of  science.*  He 
describes  the  interior  as  of  marvellous  beauty,  with  rugged 
mountains,  separated  by  soft  green  valleys,  in  which  some- 
times little  lakes,  like  the  Scottish  lochs,  sleep  under  the 
shadow  of  the  hills ;  and  rivers  whose  banks  are  like  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine.  He  says :  "  British  Burmah  embraces  all 
variety  of  aspect,  from  the  flats  of  Holland,  at  the  mouths  of 
the  Irrawaddy,  to  the  more  than  Scottish  beauty  of  the  moun- 
tainous valley  of  the  Sal  wen,  and  the  Rhenisli  river  banks  of 
the  Irrawaddy  near  Prome."     With  the  zest  of  an  Alpine 

*  This  book  furnishes  a  good  illostration  of  the  incidental  service 
which  missionaries — aside  from  the  religious  work  they  do — render 
to  the  cause  of  geography,  of  science,  and  of  literature.  They  are 
the  most  indefatigable  explorers,  and  the  most  faithful  and  authentic 
narrators  of  what  they  see.  Its  full  title  is :  "  Burmah  :  its  People 
and  Natural  Productions;  or  Notes  on  the  Natives,  Fauna,  Flora, 
and  Minerals,  of  Tenasserim,  Pegu,  and  Burmah;  With  systematic 
catalogues  of  the  known  Mammals,  Birds,  Fishes,  Reptiles,  Insects, 
Mollusks,  Crustaceans,  Anellides,  Radiates,  Plants,  and  Minerals,  with 
vernacular  names."     In  his  preface  the  writer  says  : 

"  No  pretensions  are  made  in  this  work  to  completeness.  It  is  not 
a  book  composed  in  the  luxury  of  literary  leisure,  but  a  collection  of 
Notes  [  What  ia  here  so  modestly  called  Notes,  is  an  octavo  of  over 
900  pages]  which  I  have  been  making  during  the  twenty  years  of  my 


296  PRODUCTS  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

tourist,  he  climbs  the  wild  passes  of  the  hills,  ant]  follows  the 
streams  coursing  down  their  sides,  to  where  they  leap  in 
waterfalls  over  precipices  fifty  or  one  hundred  feet  high. 
Amid  this  picturesque  scenery  he  finds  a  fauna  and  flora, 
more  varied  and  rich  than  those  of  any  part  of  Europe. 

The  country  produces  a  great  variety  of  tropical  fruits ;  it 
yields  spices  and  gums ;  while  the  natives  make  use  for  many 
l)urposes  of  the  bamboo  and  the  palm.  The  wild  beasts  are 
hunted  for  their  skins,  and  the  elephants  furnish  ivory.  But 
the  staples  of  commerce  are  two — rice  and  the  teak  wood. 
Rice  is  the  univei'sal  food  of  Barmah,  as  it  is  of  India  and 
of  China.  And  for  timber,  the  teak  is  invaluable,  as  it  is  the 
only  wood  that  can  resist  the  attacks  of  the  white  ants.  It  is 
a  red  wood,  like  our  cedar,  and  when  wrought  with  any  de- 
gree of  taste  and  skill,  produces  a  pretty  effect.  The  better 
class  of  houses  are  built  of  this,  and  being  raised  on  upright 
posts,  with  an  open  story  beneath,  and  a  broad  veranda  above, 
they  look  more  like  Swiss  chalets  than  like  the  common  East- 
ern bungalows.  The  dwellings  of  the  2)oorer  people  are  mere 
huts,  like  Irish  shanties  or  Indian  wigwams.  They  are  con- 
structed only  with  a  frame  of  bamboo,  with  mats  hung  be- 
tween. You  could  put  up  one  as  easily  as  you  would  pitch 
a  tent.     Drive  four  bamboo  poles  in  the  ground,  put  cross 

residence  in  this  country,  in  the  comers  of  my  time  that  would  other- 
wise have  been  wasted.  Often  to  forget  my  weariness  when  travel- 
ling, when  it  has  been  necessary  to  bivouac  in  the  jungles  ;  while  the 
Karens  have  been  seeking  fuel  for  their  night-fires,  or  angling  for 
their  suppers  in  the  stream  ;  I  have  occupied  myself  with  analyzing 
the  flowers  that  were  blooming  around  my  couch  ;  or  examining  the 
fish  that  were  caught ;  or  an  occasional  reptile,  insect,  or  bird,  that 
attracted  my  attention.  With  such  occupations  I  have  brightened 
many  a  solitary  hour ;  and  often  has  the  most  unpromising  situation 
proved  fruitful  in  interest ;  for  '  the  barren  heath,  with  its  mosses, 
lichens,  and  insects,  its  stunted  shrubs  and  pale  flowers,  becomes  a 
paradise  Tinder  the  eye  of  observation ;  and  to  the  genuine  thinker 
the  sandy  beach  and  the  arid  wild  are  full  of  wonders.'  " 


GATETT  OF  THE  BURMESE.  297 

pieces  and  hang  mats  of  bark,  and  you  have  a  Burmese  house. 
To  be  sure  it  is  a  slender  habitation — "  reeds  shaken  with  the 
wind ; "  but  it  serves  to  cover  the  poor  occupants,  and  if  an 
earthquake  shakes  it  down,  little  harm  is  done.  It  costs 
nothing  for  house-rent ;  rice  is  cheap,  and  the  natives  are  ex- 
pert boatmen,  and  get  a  part  of  their  living  from  the  rivera 
and  the  sea.  Their  wants  are  few  and  easily  supplied. 
"There  is  perhaps  no  country  in  the  world,"  says  Mason, 
*' where  there  are  so  few  beggars,  so  little  suifering,  and  so 
much  actual  independence  in  the  lower  strata  of  society." 
Thus  provided  for  by  nature,  they  live  an  easy  life.  Ex- 
istence is  not  a  constant  struggle.  The  earth  brings  forth 
plentifully  for  their  humble  wants.  They  do  not  boiTow 
trouble,  and  are  not  weighed  down  with  anxiety.  Hence  the 
Burmese  are  very  light-hearted  and  gay.  In  this  they  pre- 
sent a  marked  contrast  to  some  of  the  Asiatics.  They  have 
more  of  the  Mongolian  cast  of  countenance  than  of  the  Hin- 
doo, and  yet  they  are  not  so  grave  as  the  Hindoos  on  the  one 
hand,  or  as  the  Chinese  on  the  othei*.  The  women  have 
much  more  freedom  than  in  India.  They  do  not  veQ 
their  faces,  nor  are  they  shut  up  in  their  houses.  They 
go  about  as  freely  as  men,  dressed  in  brilliant  colored 
silks,  wound  simply  and  gracefully  around  them,  and  car- 
rying the  large  Chinese  umbrellas.  They  enjoy  also  the 
glorious  liberty  of  men  in  smoking  tobacco.  We  meet  them 
with  long  cheroots,  done  up  in  plantain  leaves,  in  their 
mouths,  grinning  from  ear  to  ear.  The  people  are  fond  of 
pleasure  and  amusement,  of  games  and  festivals,  and  laugh 
and  make  merry  to-day,  and  think  not  of  to-morrow.  This 
natural  and  irrepressible  gayety  of  spiiit  has  given  them  the 
name  of  the  Irish  of  the  East.  Like  the  Irish  too,  they  are 
wretchedly  improvident.  Since  they  can  live  so  easily,  they 
are  content  to  live  poorly.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that 
up  to  a  recent  period  they  had  no  motive  for  saving.  The 
least  sign  of  wealth  was  a  temptation  to  robbery  on  the  part 
13* 


298  THE   NATIVE   KINGDOM   OF   BURMAH. 

of  officials.  Now  that  they  have  security  under  the  English 
government,  they  can  save,  and  some  of  the  natives  have 
grown  rich. 

This  is  one  of  the  benefits  of  English  rule,  which  make  me 
rejoice  whenever  I  see  the  English  flag  in  any  part  of  Asia. 
Wherever  that  flag  flies,  there  is  protection  to  property  and 
life ;  there  is  law  and  order — the  first  condition  of  civilized 
society.  Such  a  government  has  been  a  great  blessing  to 
Burmah,  as  to  India.  It  is  not  necessary  to  raise  the  ques- 
tion how  England  came  into  possession  here.  It  is  the  old 
story,  that  when  a  civilized  and  a  barbarous  power  come  in 
contact,  they  are  apt  to  come  into  conflict.  They  cannot  be 
quiet  and  peaceable  neighbors.  Mutual  irritations  end  in 
war,  and  war  ends  in  annexation.  In  this  way,  after  two 
wars,  England  acquired  her  possessions  in  the  Malayan 
Peninsula,  and  Lower  Burmah  became  a  part  of  the  great 
Indian  Empire.  We  cannot  find  fault  with  England  for 
doing  exactly  what  we  should  do  in  the  same  circumstances, 
what  we  have  done  repeatedly  with  the  American  Indians. 
Such  collisions  are  almost  inevitable.  So  far  from  regretting 
that  England  thus  "  absorbed  "  Burmah,  I  only  regret  tliat 
instead  of  taking  half,  she  did  not  take  the  whole.  For 
British  Burmah  is  not  the  whole  of  Burmah  ;  there  is  still  a 
native  kingdom  on  the  Upper  Irrawaddy,  between  British 
Burmah  and  China,  with  a  capital,  Mandelay,  and  a  sovereign 
of  most  extraordinary  character,  who  preserves  in  full  force 
the  notions  of  royalty  peculiar  to  Asiatic  countries.  Recently 
a  British  envoy.  Sir  Douglas  Forsyth,  was  sent  to  have  some 
negotiations  with  him,  but  there  was  a  difiiculty  about  hav- 
ing an  audience  of  his  Majesty,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
etiquette  of  that  court,  according  to  which  he  was  required 
to  take  off  his  boots,  and  get  down  on  his  knees,  and  ap- 
proach the  royal  presence  on  all  fours  !  I  forget  how  the 
great  question  was  compromised,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  King  of  Burmah  considers  himself  the  greatest  potentate 


THE   KING    AND   HIS    CAPITAL.  299 

on  earth.  His  capital  is  a  wretched  place.  A  Russian 
gentleman  whom  we  met  in  Rangoon,  had  just  come  down 
from  Mandelay,  and  he  described  it  as  the  most  miserable 
mass  of  habitations  that  ever  assumed  to  be  called  a  city. 
There  were  no  roads,  no  carriages,  no  horses,  only  a  few  bul- 
lock carts.  Yet  the  lord  of  this  capital  thinks  it  a  great 
metropolis,  and  himself  a  great  sovereign,  and  no  one  about 
him  dares  tell  him  to  the  contrary.  He  is  an  absolute  des- 
pot, and  has  the  power  of  life  and  death,  which  he  exercises 
on  any  who  excite  his  displeasure.  He  has  but  to  speak  a 
word  or  raise  a  hand,  and  the  object  of  his  wrath  is  led  to 
execution.  Suspicion  makes  him  cruel,  and  death  is  some- 
times inflicted  by  torture  or  crucifixion.  Formerly  bodies 
were  often  seen  susi)ended  to  crosses  along  the  river.  Of 
course  no  one  dares  to  provoke  such  a  master  by  telling  him 
the  truth.  Not  long  ago  he  sent  a  mission  to  Europe,  and 
when  his  ambassadors  i-eturned,  they  reported  to  the  King 
that  "  London  and  Paiis  were  very  respectable  cities,  but  not 
to  be  compared  to  Mandelay  I  "  This  was  repeated  to  me  by 
the  captain  of  the  steamer  which  brought  them  back,  who 
said  one  of  them  told  him  they  did  not  dare  to  say  anything 
else ;  that  they  would  lose  their  heads  if  they  should  intimate 
to  his  majesty  that  there  was  on  the  earth  a  greater  sove- 
reign than  himself. 

But  in  spite  of  his  absolute  authority,  this  old  King  lives 
in  constant  terror,  and  keeps  himself  shut  up  in  his  palace, 
or  within  the  walls  of  his  garden,  not  daring  to  stir  abroad 
for  fear  of  assassination. 

It  requires  a  few  hard  knocks  to  get  a  little  sense  into 
such  a  thick  head  ;  and  if  in  the  course  of  human  events  the 
English  were  called  to  administer  these,  we  should  be  sweetly 
submissive  to  the  ordering  of  Providence. 

But  though  so  ignorant  of  the  world,  this  old  king  is 
accounted  a  learned  man  among  his  j^eople,  and  is  quite  reli- 
gious after  his  fashion.     Indeed  he  is  i-eported  to  have  said 


300  A  LARGE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 

to  an  English  gentleman  that  "  the  English  were  a  gi-eat 
people,  but  what  a  pity  that  they  had  no  religion  !  "  In  his 
own  faith  he  is  very  "  orthodox."  He  will  not  have  any 
*'  Dissenters  "  about  hira — not  he.  If  any  man  has  doubts, 
let  him  keep  them  to  himself,  lest  the  waters  of  the  Irra- 
waddy  roll  over  his  unbelieving  breast. 

But  in  the  course  of  nature  this  holy  man  will  be  gathered 
to  his  rest,  and  then  his  happy  family  may  perhaps  not  live 
in  such  perfect  harmony.  He  is  now  sixty-five  years  old, 
and  has  thirty  sons,  so  that  the  question  of  succession  is 
somewhat  difficult,  as  there  is  no  order  of  primogeniture. 
He  has  the  right  to  choose  an  heir ;  and  has  been  urged  to 
do  so  by  his  English  neighbors,  to  obviate  all  dispute  to  the 
succession.  But  he  did  this  once  and  it  raised  a  storm  about 
his  ears.  The  twenty-nine  sons  that  wei*e  not  chosen,  with 
their  respective  mothers,  raised  such  a  din  abotit  his  head 
that  the  poor  man  was  nearly  distracted,  and  was  glad  to 
revoke  his  decision,  to  keep  peace  in  the  family.  He  keeps 
his  sons  under  strict  surveillance  lest  they  should  assassinate 
him.  But  if  he  thus  gets  peace  in  his  time,  he  leaves  things 
in  a  state  of  glorious  uncertainty  after  his  death.  Then 
there  may  be  a  ho\isehold  divided  against  itself.  Perhaps 
they  will  fall  out  like  the  Kilkenny  cats.  If  there  should 
be  a  disputed  succession,  and  a  long  and  bloody  civil  war,  it 
might  be  a  duty  for  their  strong  neighbors,  "  in  the  interest 
of  humanity,"  to  step  in  and  settle  the  dispute  by  taking  the 
country  for  themselves.  Who  could  regi-et  an  issue  that 
should  put  an  end  to  the  horrible  oppression  and  tyranny  of 
the  native  government,  with  its  cruel  punishments,  its  tor- 
tures and  crucifixions  ? 

It  would  give  the  English  the  mastery  of  a  magnificent 
country.  The  valley  of  the  Irrawaddy  is  rich  as  the  valley 
of  the  Nile,  and  only  needs  "  law  and  order  "  for  the  wilder- 
ness to  bud  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  Should  the  English 
take  Uj^per  Bux-mah,  the  great  East  Indian  Empire  would  be 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY.         301 

extended  over  the  whole  South  of  Asia,  and  up  to  the  bor 
dei"8  of  China. 

But  the  excellent  Chief  Commissioner  has  no  dream  of 
annexation,  his  only  ambition  being  to  govern  justly  the 
people  entrusted  to  his  care  ;  to  protect  them  in  their  i-ights ; 
to  put  down  violence  and  robbery,  for  the  country  has  been 
in  such  a  fearful  state  of  disorganization,  that  the  interior 
has  been  overrun  with  bands  of  robbers.  Dacoity,  as  it  is 
called,  has  been  the  terror  of  the  country,  as  much  as  brig- 
andage has  been  of  Sicily.  But  the  English  are  now  putting 
it  down  with  a  strong  hand.  To  develop  the  resources  of 
the  country,  the  Government  seeks  to  promote  internal  com- 
munication and  foreign  commerce.  At  Rangoon  the  track 
is  already  laid  for  a  railroad  up  the  country  to  Prome.  The 
seaports  are  improved  and  made  safe  for  ships.  With  such 
facilities  Burmah  may  have  a  large  commerce,  for  which  she 
has  ample  material.  Her  vast  forests  of  teak  would  supply 
the  demand  of  all  Southern  Asia ;  while  the  rice  from  the 
delta  of  the  Irrawaddy  may  in  the  future,  as  in  the  pa.st,  feed 
the  millions  of  India  who  might  otherwise  die  from  famine. 

With  the  establishment  of  this  civilized  rule  there  opens  a 
prospect  for  the  future  of  Burmah,  which  shall  be  better 
than  the  old  age  of  splendid  tyranny.  Says  Mason  :  "  The 
golden  age  when  Pegu  was  the  land  of  gold,  and  the  In-a- 
waddy  the  river  of  gold,  has  passed  away,  and  the  country 
degenerated  into  the  land  of  paddy  (rice),  and  the  stream 
into  the  river  of  teak.  Yet  its  last  days  are  its  best  days. 
If  the  gold  has  vanished,  so  has  oppression ;  if  the  gems 
have  fled,  so  have  the  taskmasters ;  if  the  palace  of  the 
Brama  of  Toungoo,  who  had  twenty-six  crowned  heads  at 
his  command,  is  in  ruins,  the  slave  is  free."  The  poor  native 
has  now  some  encouragement  to  cultivate  his  rice  field,  for 
its  fruit  will  not  be  taken  from  him.  The  gi-eat  want  of  the 
country  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Western  States  of  Amer- 
ica— population.     British  Burmah  has  but  three  raillious  of 


302  THE   GREAT  PAGODA. 

inhabitants,  while,  if  the  country  were  as  thickly  settled  as 
Belgium  and  Holland,  or  as  some  parts  of  Asia,  it  might 
sujiport  thirty  millions.  Such  a  population  cannot  come  at 
once,  or  in  a  century,  but  the  country  may  look  for  a  slow 
but  steady  growth  from  the  overflow  of  India  and  China, 
that  shall  in  time  rebuild  its  waste  places,  and  plant  towns 
and  cities  along  its  rivers. 

While  thus  interested  in  the  political  state  of  Burmah  we 
cannot  forget  its  religion.  In  coming  from  India  to  Farther 
India  we  have  found  not  only  a  new  race,  but  a  new  faith 
and  worshij).  While  Brahminism  rules  the  great  Southern 
Peninsula  of  Asia,  Buddhism  is  the  religion  of  Eastern  Asia, 
numbering  more  adherents  than  any  other  religion  on  the 
globe.  Of  this  new  faith  one  may  obtain  some  idea  by  a  visit 
to  the  Great  Pagoda.  The  Buddhists,  like  the  priests  of 
some  other  religions,  choose  lofty  sites  for  their  places  of  wor- 
ship, which,  as  they  overtop  the  earth,  seem  to  raise  them 
nearer  to  heaven.  The  Great  Pagoda  stands  on  a  hill,  or 
rocky  ledge,  which  overlooks  the  city  of  Bangoon  and  the 
valley  of  the  Irrawaddy.  It  is  approached  by  a  long  flight  of 
steps,  which  is  occupied,  like  the  approaches  to  the  ancient 
temple  in  Jerusalem,  by  them  that  buy  and  sell,  so  that  it  is 
a  kind  of  bazaar,  and  also  by  lepers  and  blind  men,  who 
stretch  out  their  hands  to  ask  for  alms  of  those  who  mount 
the  sacred  hill  to  pray.  Ascending  to  the  summit,  we  find  a 
plateau,  on  which  there  is  an  enclosure  of  perhaps  an  acre  or 
two  of  ground.  The  Pagoda  is  a  colossal  structui'e,  with  a 
broad  base  like  a  pyramid,  though  round  in  shape,  sloping 
upwards  to  a  slender  cone,  which  tapers  at  last  to  a  sort  of 
spire  over  three  hundred  feet  high,  and  as  the  whole,  from 
base  to  pinnacle,  is  covered  with  gold  leaf,  it  presents  a  very 
dazzling  appeai-ance,  when  it  reflects  the  rays  of  the  sun.  As  a 
pagoda  is  always  a  solid  mass  of  masoni-y,  with  no  inner  place 
of  worship — not  even  a  shiine,  or  a  chamber  like  that  in  the 
heart  of  the  Great  Pyramid — there  was  more  of  fervor  than  of 


THE   GEEAT   PAGODA.  303 

fitness  in  the  language  of  an  English  friend  of  missions,  who 
prayed  "  that  the  pagodas  might  resound  with  the  praises  of 
God  !  "  They  might  resound,  but  it  must  needs  be  on  the  out- 
side. The  tall  spire  has  for  its  extreme  point,  what  architects 
call  a  finial — a  kind  of  umbrella,  which  the  Burmese  call  a 
*'  htee,"  made  of  a  series  of  iron  rings  gilded,  from  which  hang 
many  little  silver  and  brass  bells,  which,  swinging  to  and  fro 
with  every  passing  breeze,  give  forth  a  dripping  musical  sound. 
The  Buddhist  idea  of  pnvyer  is  not  limited  to  human  speech  ; 
it  may  be  expressed  by  an  offering  of  flowers,  or  the  tinkling 
of  a  bell.  It  is  at  least  a  pretty  fancy,  which  leads  them 
to  suspend  on  every  point  and  pinnacle  of  their  pagodas 
these  tiny  bells,  whose  soft,  aerial  chimes  sound  sweetly  in 
the  air,  and  floating  upward,  fill  the  ear  of  heaven  with  a 
constant  melody.  Besides  the  Great  Pagoda,  there  are  other 
smaller  pagodas,  one  of  which  has  lately  been  decorated  with 
a  magnificent  "  htee,"  presented  by  a  rich  ti"mber  merchant 
of  Maulmain,  It  is  said  to  have  cost  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
as  we  can  well  believe,  since  it  is  gemmed  with  diamonds  and 
other  precious  stones.  There  was  a  great  festival  when 
it  was  set  up  in  its  place,  which  was  kept  up  for  several 
days,  and  is  just  over.  At  the  same  time  he  presented  an 
elephant  for  the  service  of  the  temple,  who,  being  thus  con- 
secrated, is  of  course  a  sacred  beast.  We  met  him  taking 
his  morning  rounds,  and  very  grand  he  was,  with  his  crimson 
and  gold  trappings  and  howdah,  and  as  he  swung  along  with 
becoming  gravity,  he  was  a  more  dignified  object  than  the 
worshippers  around  him.  But  the  people  were  very  good- 
natxired,  and  we  walked  about  in  their  holy  places,  and  made 
our  observations  with  the  utmost  freedom.  In  the  enclosure 
are  many  pavilions,  some  of  which  are  places  for  worship, 
and  others  rest-houses  for  the  people.  The  idols  are  hideous 
oVjjects,  as  all  idols  are,  though  perhaps  better  looking  than 
those  of  the  Hindoos.  They  represent  Buddha  in  all  posi- 
tions, before  whose  image  candles  are  kept  burning. 


304  THE    GKEAT   PAGODA. 

lu  the  grounds  is  an  enormous  bell,  which  is  constantly 
struck  by  the  worshippers,  till  its  deep  vibrations  make  the 
very  air  around  holy  with  prayer.  With  my  American 
curiosity  to  see  the  inside  of  everything,  I  crawled  under  it 
(it  was  hung  but  a  few  inches  above  the  ground),  and  rose 
up  within  the  hollow  bronze,  which  had  so  long  trembled 
with  pious  devotion.  But  at  that  moment  it  hung  in  silence, 
and  I  crawled  back  again,  lest  by  some  accident  the  enormous 
weight  should  fall  and  put  an  extinguisher  on  my  further 
comparative  study  of  religions.  This  bell  serves  another 
purpose  in  the  worship  of  Buddhists.  They  strike  upon  it 
before  saying  their  prayers,  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
recording  angel,  so  that  they  may  get  due  credit  for  their 
act  of  piety.  Those  philosophical  spirits  who  admire  all  reli- 
gions but  the  Christian,  will  observe  in  this  a  beautiful  econ- 
omy in  their  devotions.  They  do  not  wish  their  prayers  to 
be  wasted.  By  getting  due  allowance  for  them,  they  not 
only  keep  their  credit  good,  but  have  a  balance  in  their  favor. 
It  is  the  same  economy  which  leads  them  to  attach  prayers  to 
water-wheels  and  windmills,  by  wliich  the  greatest  amount  of 
praying  may  be  done  with  the  least  possible  amount  of  labor 
or  time.  The  one  object  of  the  Buddhist  religion  seems  to 
be  to  attain  merit,  according  to  the  amount  of  which  they 
will  spend  more  or  less  time  in  the  realm  of  spirits  before 
returning  to  this  cold  world,  and  on  which  depends  also  the 
form  they  will  assume  on  their  reincarnation.  Among  those 
who  sit  at  the  gate  of  the  temple  as  we  approach,  are  holy 
men,  who,  by  a  long  course  of  devotion,  have  accumulated 
such  a  stock  of  merit  that  they  have  enough  and  to  spare, 
and  are  willing  to  part  with  it  for  a  consideration  to  others 
less  fortunate  than  themselves.  It  is  the  old  idea  of  works 
of  supererogation  over  again,  in  which,  as  in  many  other 
things,  they  show  the  closest  resemblance  to  Romanism. 

But  however  puerile  it  may  be  in  its  forms  of  worship, 
yet  as  a  religion  Buddhism  is  an  immeasurable  advance  on 


BUDDHISM   BETTER  THAN   HIND0OI8M.  305 

Brahminisui.  In  leaving  India  we  have  left  behind  Hindoo 
ism,  and  are  grateful  for  the  change,  for  Buddhism  is  alto- 
gether a  more  respectable  religion.  It  has  no  bloody  rites  like 
those  of  the  goddess  Kali.  It  does  not  outrage  decency  nor 
morality.  It  has  no  obscene  images  nor  obscene  worslup.  It 
has  no  caste,  with  its  bondage  and  its  degradation.  Indeed,  the 
scholar  who  makes  a  study  of  different  religions,  will  rank 
Buddhism  among  the  best  of  those  which  are  uninspired  ;  if 
he  does  not  find  in  its  origin  and  in  the  life  of  its  founder 
much  that  looks  even  like  inspiration.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Buddha,  or  Gaudama,  if  such  a  man  ever  lived  (of  which 
there  is  pei'haps  no  more  reason  to  doubt  than  of  any  of  the 
great  characters  of  antiquity),  began  his  career  of  a  religious 
teacher,  as  a  reformer  of  Brahminism,  with  the  honest  and 
noble  purpose  of  elevating  the  faith,  and  purifying  the  lives 
of  mankind.  Mason,  as  a  Christian  missionary,  certainly 
did  not  desire  to  exaggerate  the  virtues  of  another  religion, 
and  yet  he  writes  of  the  origin  of  Buddhism  : 

"  Three  hundred  years  before  Alexandria  was  founded  ;  about  the 
time  that  Thales,  the  most  ancient  philosopher  of  Europe,  was 
teaching  in  Greece  that  water  is  the  origin  of  all  things,  the  soul  of 
the  world ;  and  Zoroaster,  in  Media  or  Persia,  was  systematizing  the 
fire-worship  of  the  Magi  ;  and  Confucius  in  China  was  calling  on  the 
teeming  multitudes  around  him  to  offer  to  guardian  spirits  and  the 
manes  of  their  ancestors  ;  and  Nebuchadnezzar  set  up  his  golden 
image  in  the  plains  of  Dura,  and  Daniel  was  laboring  in  Babylon  to 
establish  the  worship  of  the  true  God ;  a  reverend  sage,  with  his 
staif  and  scrip,  who  had  left  a  throne  for  philosophy,  was  travelling 
from  Gaya  to  Benares,  and  from  Benares  to  Kanouj,  exhorting  the 
people  against  theft,  falsehood,  adultery,  killing  and  intemperance. 
No  temperance  lecturer  advocates  teetotalism  now  more  strongly 
than  did  this  sage  Gaudama  twenty-three  centuries  ago.  Nor  did 
he  confine  his  instructions  to  external  vices.  Pride,  anger,  lust, 
envy  and  covetousness  were  condemned  by  him  in  as  strong  terms 
as  are  ever  heard  from  the  Christian  pulpit.  Love,  mercy,  patience, 
self-denial,  alms-giving,  truth,  and  the  cultivation  of  wisdom,  he 
required  of  aU.     good  actions,  good  words,  and  good  thoughts  were 


306  PRACTICAL    EFFECTS    OF   BUDDHISM.  , 

the  frequent)  subjects  of  his  sermons,  and  he  was  unceasing  in  his 
cautions  to  keep  the  mind  free  from  the  turmoils  of  passion,  and 
the  cares  of  life.  Immediately  after  the  death  of  this  venerable 
peripatetic,  his  disciples  scattered  themselves  abroad  to  propagate 
the  doctrines  of  their  master,  and  tradition  says,  one  party  entered 
the  principal  mouth  of  the  Irrawaddy,  where  they  traced  its  banks 
to  where  the  first  rocks  lift  themselves  abruptly  above  the  flats 
around.  Here,  on  the  summit  of  this  laterite  ledge,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  above  the  river,  they  erected  the  standard  of  Buddhism, 
which  now  lifts  its  spire  to  the  heavens  higher  than  the  dome  of  St. 
Paul's." 

In  its  practical  eiTects  Buddhism  is  favorable  to  virtue  ; 
and  its  adherents,  so  far  as  they  follow  it,  are  a  quiet  and 
inoffensive  people.  They  are  a  kind  of  Quakers,  who  follow 
an  inward  light,  and  whose  whole  philosophy  of  life  is  one  of 
repression  of  natural  desires.  Tlieir  creed  is  a  mixture  of 
mysticism  and  stoicism,  which  by  gentle  meditation  subdues 
the  mind  to  "  a  calm  and  heavenly  frame,"  a  placid  indiffer- 
ence to  good  or  ill,  to  joy  or  sorrow,  to  pleasure  and  pain. 
It  teaches  that  by  subduing  the  desires — pride,  envy,  and 
ambition — one  brings  himself  into  a  state  of  tranquillity,  in 
which  thei-e  is  neither  hope  nor  fear.  It  is  easy  to  see 
where  such  a  creed  is  defective  ;  that  it  does  not  bring  out 
the  heroic  virtues,  as  shown  in  active  devotion  to  others' 
good.  This  active  philanthropy  is  born  of  Christianity. 
There  is  a  spiritual  selfishness  in  dreaming  life  away  in  this 
idle  meditation.  But  so  far  as  others  are  concerned,  it  bids 
no  man  wrong  his  neighbor. 

Buddha's  table  of  the  law  may  be  compared  with  that  of 
Moses.  Instead  of  Ten  Commandments,  it  has  only  Five, 
"which  correspond  very  nearly  to  the  latter  half  of  the  Deca- 
logue. Indeed  three  of  them  are  precisely  the  same,  viz. : 
Do  not  kill ;  Do  not  steal ;  and  Do  not  commit  adultery  ; 
and  the  fourth.  Do  not  lie,  includes,  as  a  broader  statement, 
the  Mosaic  command  not  to  bear  false  witness  against  one's 
neighbor;  but  the  last  one  of  all,  instead  of  being  "not  to 


'       RESEMBLANCE   TO   EOMANISM.  307 

covet,"  is,  Do  not  become  intoxicated.  These  commands  are 
all  prohibitions,  and  enforce  only  the  negative  side  of  vir- 
tue. They  forbid  injury  to  property  and  life  and  reputation, 
and  thus  every  injury  to  one's  neighbor,  and  the  last  of  all 
forbids  injury  to  one's  self,  while  they  do  not  urge  active 
benevolence  to  man  nor  piety  towards  God. 

These  Five  Commandments  are  the  rule  of  life  for  all  men. 
But  to  those  who  aspire  to  a  more  purely  religious  life,  there 
are  other  and  stricter  rules.  They  are  required  to  renounce 
the  world,  to  live  apart,  and  practice  rigid  austerities,  in 
order  to  bring  the  body  into  subjection.  Every  day  is  to  be 
one  of  abstinence  and  self-denial.  To  them  are  given  five 
other  commands,  in  addition  to  those  prescribed  to  mankind 
generally.  They  must  take  no  solid  food  after  noon  (a  fast 
not  only  Friday,  but  every  day  of  the  week)  ;  they  must 
not  visit  dances,  singing  or  theatrical  representations ;  must 
use  no  ornaments  or  perfumery  in  dress  ;  must  not  sleep  in 
luxurious  beds,  and  while  living  by  alms,  accept  neither  gold 
nor  silver.  By  this  rigid  self-discipline,  they  are  expected  to 
"be  able  to  subdue  their  appetites  and  passions  and  overcome 
the  world. 

This  monastic  system  is  one  point  of  resemblance  between 
Buddhism  and  Romanism.  Both  have  orders  of  monks  and 
nuns,  who  take  vows  of  celibacy  and  poverty,  and  live  in 
convents  and  monasteries.  There  is  also  a  close  resemblance 
in  their  forms  of  worship.  Both  have  their  holy  shi-ines, 
and  use  images  and  altars,  before  which,  flowers  are  placed, 
and  lamps  are  always  burning.  Both  chant  and  pray  in  an 
unknown  tongue.* 

*  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  who  was  familiar  with  Buddhism  during 
his  forty  years  residence  in  China,  says  ("  Middle  Kingdom,"  Vol. 
II.,  p.  257): 

"The  numerous  points  of  similarity  between  the  rites  of  the  Budd- 
hists and  those  of  the  Romish  Church,  early  attracted  attention.  .  . 
such  as  the  vow  of  celibacy  in  both  sexes,  the  object  of  their  seclu- 


308  RESEMBLANCE   TO   ROMANISM. 

This  resemblance  of  tlie  Buddliist  creed  and  worship  to 
their  own,  the  Jesuit  missionaries  have  been  quick  to  see, 
and  with  their  usual  artfulness  have  tried  to  use  it  as  an 


sion,  the  loss  of  hair,  taking  a  new  name  and  looking  after  the  care  of 
the  convent.  There  are  many  grounds  for  supposing  that  their  fav- 
orite goddess  Kwanyin,  i.  e.,  the  Hearer  of  Cries,  called  also  Holy 
Mother,  Queen  of  Heaven,  is  only  another  form  of  Our  Lady.  The 
monastic  habit,  holy  water,  counting  rosaries  to  assist  in  prayer,  the 
ordinances  of  celibacy  and  fasting,  and  reciting  masses  for  the  dead, 
worship  of  relics,  and  canonization  of  saints,  are  alike  features  of 
both  sects.  Both  bum  candles  and  incense,  and  bells  are  much  used 
in  their  temples  :  both  teach  a  purgatory,  from  which  the  soul  can 
be  delivered  by  prayers,  and  use  a  dead  language  for  their  liturgy, 
and  their  priests  pretend  to  miracles.  These  striking  resemblances 
led  the  Romish  missionaries  to  suppose  that  some  of  them  had  been 
derived  from  the  Romanists  or  Syrians  who  entered  China  before  the 
twelfth  century ;  others  referred  them  to  St.  Thomas,  but  Premare 
ascribes  them  to  the  devil,  who  had  thus  imitated  holy  mother 
church  in  order  to  scandalize  and  oppose  its  rights.  But  as  Davis 
observes  :  '  To  those  who  admit  that  most  of  the  Romish  ceremonies 
are  borrowed  directly  from  Paganism,  there  is  less  difficulty  in  ac- 
counting for  the  resemblance. ' 

The  following  scene  in  a  Buddhist  temple  described  by  an  eye- 
witness, answers  to  what  is  often  seen  in  Romish  churches  : 

"There  stood  fourteen  priests,  seven  on  each  side  of  the  altar, 
erect,  motionless,  with  clasped  hands  and  downcast  eyes,  their  shaven 
heads  and  flowing  gray  robes  adding  to  their  solemn  appearance.  The 
low  and  measured  tones  of  the  slowly  moving  chant  they  were  sing- 
ing might  have  awakened  solemn  emotions,  and  called  away  the 
thoughts  from  worldly  objects.  Three  priests  kept  time  with  the 
music,  one  beating  an  immense  drum,  another  a  large  iron  vessel, 
and  a  third  a  wooden  bell.  After  chanting,  they  kneeled  upon  low 
stools,  and  bowed  before  the  colossal  image  of  Buddha,  at  the  same 
time  striking  their  heads  upon  the  ground.  Then  rising  and  facing 
each  other,  they  began  slowly  chanting  some  sentences,  and  rapidly 
increasing  the  music  and  their  utterance  until  both  were  at  the  cli- 
max of  rapidity,  they  diminished  in  the  same  way  until  they  had  re- 
turned to  the  original  measure.  .  .  .  The  whole  service  forcibly 
reminded  me  of  scenes  in  Romish  chapels." 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARIES   IN   BURMAH.  309 

argument  to  smooth  the  way  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Asiatics  by  representing  the  change  as  a  slight  one.  But 
the  Buddhist,  not  to  be  outdone  in  quickness,  answers  that 
the  difference  is  so  slight  that  it  is  not  worth  making  the 
change.  The  only  difference,  they  say,  is  "  we  worship  a 
man  and  you  worship  a  woman  !  " 

But  Christianity  has  had  other  representatives  in  Burmah 
than  the  Jesuits.  At  an  early  day  American  missionaries, 
as  if  they  could  not  go  far  enough  away  from  home,  in  their 
zeal  to  carry  the  Gospel  where  it  had  not  been  preached  be- 
fore, sought  a  field  of  labor  in  Southeastern  Asia.  More 
than  sixty  years  ago  they  landed  on  these  shores.  They 
planted  no  colonies,  waged  no  wars,  raised  no  flag,  and  made 
no  annexation.  The  only  flag  they  carried  over  them  was 
that  of  the  Gospel  of  peace.  And  yet  in  the  work  they 
wi'ought  they  have  left  a  memorial  which  will  long  preserve 
their  sainted  and  heroic  names.  While  in  Rangoon  I  took 
up  again  "  The  Life  of  Judson  "  by  Dr.  Wayland,  and  read  it 
with  new  interest  on  the  very  spot  which  had  been  the  scene 
of  his  labors.  Nothing  in  the  whole  history  of  missions  is 
more  thrilling  than  the  story  of  his  imprisonment.  It  was 
dxii-ing  the  second  Burmese  war.  He  was  at  that  time  at 
Ava,  the  capital  of  Burmah,  where  he  had  been  in  favor  till 
now,  when  the  king,  enraged  at  the  English,  seized  all  that 
he  could  lay  hands  upon,  and  threw  them  into  prison.  He 
could  not  distinguish  an  American,  who  had  the  same  fea- 
tures and  spoke  the  same  language,  and  so  Judson  shared 
the  fate  of  the  rest.  One  day  his  house  was  entered  by  an 
oflBcer  and  eight  or  t^n  men,  one  of  whom  he  recognized 
by  his  hideous  tattooed  face  as  the  ^executioner,  who  seized 
him  in  the  midst  of  his  family,  threw  him  on  the  floor,  drew 
out  the  instrument  of  torture,  the  small  cord,  with  which  he 
bound  him,  and  h\in-ied  him  to  the  death  prison,  where  he 
was  chained,  as  were  the  other  foreigners,  each  with  three 
pairs  of  fetters  to  a  pole.     He  expected  nothing  but  death, 


310  DR.  JUDSON   IN   PRISON. 

but  the  imprisonment  dragged  on  for  months,  varied  with 
every  device  of  horror  and  of  cruelty.  Often  he  was  chained 
to  the  vilest  malefactors.  Sometimes  he  was  cast  into  an 
inner  prison,  which  was  like  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta, 
where  his  limbs  were  confined  witli  five  pairs  of  fetters.  So 
loathsome  was  his  prison,  that  he  counted  it  the  greatest 
favor  and  indulgence,  when,  after  a  fever,  he  was  allowed  to 
sleep  in  the  cage  of  a  dead  lion  !  This  lasted  nearly  two 
years.  Several  times  his  keepers  had  ordei's  (as  they  con- 
fessed afterward)  to  assassinate  him,  but,  restrained  perhaps 
by  pity  for  his  wife,  they  withheld  their  hand,  thinking  that 
disease  would  soon  do  the  work  for  them. 

During  all  that  long  and  dreadful  time  his  wife  watched 
over  him  with  never-failing  devotion.  She  could  not  sleep 
in  the  prison,  but  every  day  she  dragged  herself  two  miles 
through  the  crowded  city,  carrying  food  for  her  husband  and 
the  other  English  prisoners.  During  that  ])eriod  a  child  was 
born,  whose  first  sight  of  its  father  was  within  prison  walls. 
Some  time  after  even  his  heathen  jailors  took  pity  on  him, 
and  allowed  him  to  take  a  little  air  in  the  street  outside  of 
the  prison  gate.  And  history  does  not  present  a  more  touch- 
ing scene  than  that  of  this  man,  when  his  wife  was  ill,  carry- 
ing his  babe  through  the  streets  from  door  to  door,  asking 
Burman  motheis,  in  the  sacred  name  of  maternity,  of  that 
instinct  of  motherhood  which  is  universal  throughout  the 
world,  to  give  nourishment  to  this  poor,  emaciated,  and  dying 
child. 

But  at  length  a  day  of  deliverance  came.  The  English 
army  had  taken  Rangoon  and  was  advancing  up  the  Irra- 
waddy.  Then  all  was  terror  at  Ava,  and  the  tyrant  that  had 
thrown  Judson  into  a  dungeon,  sent  to  bring  him  out  and 
to  beg  him  to  go  to  the  English  camp  to  be  his  interpreter, 
and  to  sue  for  terms  of  peace.  He  went  and  was  received 
with  the  lionor  due  to  his  character  and  his  sufferings.  But 
the  heroine  of  the  camp  was  that  noble  American  woman, 


DEVOTION   OF   HIS   WIFE.  311 

whose  devotion  had  saved,  not  only  the  life  of  her  husband, 
but  the  lives  of  all  the  English  prisoners.  The  commander- 
in-chief  received  her  as  if  she  had  been  an  empress,  ancfat  a 
great  dinner  given  to  the  Burmese  ambassadors  placed  her  at 
his  right  hand,  in  the  presence  of  the  very  men  to  whom  she 
had  often  been  to  beg  for  mercy,  and  had  been  often  driven 
brutally  from  their  doors.  The  tables  were  turned,  and  they 
were  the  ones  to  ask  for  mercy  now.  They  sat  uneasy,  giv- 
ing restless  glances  at  the  missionary's  wife,  as  if  fearing  lest 
a  sudden  burst  of  womanly  indignation  should  impel  her  to 
demand  the  punishment  of  those  who  had  treated  her  with 
such  cruelty.  But  they  were  quite  safe.  She  would  not 
touch  a  hair  of  their  heads.  Too  happy  in  the  release  of  the 
one  she  loved,  her  heart  was  overflowing  with  gratitude,  and 
she  felt  no  desire  but  to  live  among  this  people,  and  to  do 
good  to  those  from  whom  she  had  suffered  so  much.  They 
removed  to  Amherst,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maulmain  River, 
and  had  built  a  pretty  home,  and  were  beginning  to  realize 
their  dream  of  missionary  life,  when  she  was  taken  ill,  and, 
broken  by  her  former  hardships,  soon  sank  in  death. 

Probably  "  The  Life  of  Judson  "  has  interested  American 
Christians  in  Burmah  more  than  all  the  histories  and  geo- 
graphical descriptions  put  together.  General  histories  have 
never  the  interest  of  a  personal  naiTative,  and  the  picture  of 
Judson  in  a  dungeon,  wearing  manacles  on  his  limbs,  ex- 
posed to  death  in  its  most  ten*ible  forms,  to  be  tortured  or 
to  be  cinicified,  and  finally  saved  by  the  devotion  of  his  wife, 
has  touched  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  more  than  all 
the  learned  histories  of  Eastern  Asia  that  ever  were  written. 

And  when  I  stood  at  a  humble  grave  on  Amherst  Point, 
looking  out  upon  the  sea,  and  read  upon  the  stone  the  name 
of  Ann  Hasseltine  Judson,  and  thought  of  that  gentle 
American  wife,  coming  out  from  the  peace  and  protection  of 
her  New  England  home  to  face  such  dangers,  I  felt  that  I 
haul  never  bent  over  the  dust  of  one  more  worthy  of  all  the 


312  FRUIT   OF   AMERICAN   MISSIONS. 

honors  of  womanhood  and  sainthood ;  tender  and  shrinking, 
but  whom  love  made  strong  and  brave ;  who  walked  among 
coarse  and  brutal  men,  armed  only  with  her  own  native  mod- 
esty and  dignity  :  who  by  the  sick-bed  or  in  a  prison  cast 
light  in  a  dark  place  by  her  sweet  presence ;  and  who  united 
all  that  is  noble  in  woman's  love  and  courage  and  devotion. 

Judson  survived  this  first  wife  about  a  quarter  of  a  century 
— a  period  full  of  labor,  and  in  its  later  years,  full  of  precious 
fruit.  That  was  the  golden  autumn  of  his  life.  He  that  had 
gone  forth  weeping,  bearing  precious  seed,  came  again  re- 
joicing, bringing  his  sheaves  with  him.  I  wish  the  Church 
in  America  could  see  what  has  been  achieved  by  that  well- 
spent  life.  Most  of  his  fellow-laborers  have  gone  to  their 
rest,  though  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  at  Rangoon,  and  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Haswell  at  Maulmain,  still  live  to  tell  of  the  trials  and 
struggles  of  those  early  days.*  And  now  a])pears  the  fruit  of 
all  those  toilsome  years.  The  mission  that  was  weak  has 
grown  strong.  In  Rangoon  there  are  a  number  of  missiona- 
ries, who  have  not  only  established  churches  and  Christian 
schools,  but  founded  a  College  and  a  Theological  Seminaiy. 
They  have  a  Printing  Press,  under  the  charge  of  the  veteran 
Mr.  Bennett,  who  has  been  here  forty-six  years.  In  the  in- 
terior are  churches  in  great  numbers.  The  early  missionaries 
found  a  poor  people — a  sort  of  lower  caste  among  the  Bur- 
mese—  the  Karens.  It  may  almost  be  said  that  they  caught 
them  in  the  woods  and  tamed  them.  They  first  reduced  their 
language  to  writing ;  they  gave  them  books  and  schools,  and 
to-day  there  are  twenty  thousand  of  this  people  who  are 
members  of  their  cliurches.  In  the  interior  there  are  many- 
Christian  villages,  with  native  churches  and  native  pastors, 
supported  by  the  people  themselves,  whose  deep  poverty 
abounds  to  their  liberality  in  a  way  that  recalls  Apostolic 
times. 

*  Dr.  Haswell  died  a  few  months  after  we  left  Burmah. 


LEAVING   RANGOON.  813 

The  field  which  has  been  the  scene  of  such  toils  and  sacri- 
fices properly  belongs  to  the  denomination  which  has  given 
such  examples  of  Christian  devotion.  The  Baptists  were  the 
first  to  enter  the  countiy,  led  by  an  apostle.  The  Mission 
in  Burmah  is  the  glory  of  the  Baptist  Church,  as  that  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands  is  of  the  American  Board.  They  have  a 
sort  of  right  to  the  land  by  reason  of  first  occupancy — a 
right  made  sacred  by  these  early  and  heroic  memories ;  and  I 
trust  will  be  respected  by  other  Christian  bodies  in  the  exer- 
cise of  that  comity  which  ought  to  exist  between  Churches 
as  between  States,  in  the  possession  of  a  field  which  they 
have  cultivated  with  so  much  zeal,  wisdom,  and  success. 

It  is  not  till  one  leaves  Rangoon  that  he  sees  the  beauty 
of  Burmah.  The  banks  of  the  Irrawaddy,  like  those  of  the 
Hoogly,  are  low  and  jungly;  but  as  we  glide  from  the  river 
into  the  sea,  and  turn  southward,  the  shores  begin  to  rise, 
till  after  a  few  hours'  sail  we  might  be  on  the  coast  of  Wales 
or  of  Scotland.  The  next  morning  found  us  at  anchor  off  the 
mouth  of  the  Sal  wen  River.  The  steamers  of  the  British 
India  Company  stop  at  all  the  pi'incipal  ports,  and  we  were 
now  to  pass  up  the  river  to  Maulmain.  But  the  Malda  was 
too  large  to  cross  the  bar  except  at  very  high  tide,  for  which 
we  should  have  to  wait  over  a  day.  The  prospect  of  resting 
here  under  a  tropical  sun,  and  in  full  sight  of  the  shore,  was 
not  inviting,  and  we  looked  about  for  some  way  of  escape. 
Fortunately  we  had  on  board  Miss  Haswell,  of  the  well- 
known  missionary  family,  who  had  gone  up  from  Maulmain 
to  Rangoon  to  see  some  friends  off  for  America,  and  was  now 
returning.  With  such  an  interpreter  and  guide,  we  deter- 
mined to  go  on  shore,  and  hailing  a  pilot-boat,  went  down 
the  ship's  ladder,  and  jumped  on  board.  The  captain  thought 
us  very  rash,  as  the  sea  was  rough,  and  the  boat  rose  and 
plunged  in  waves;  but  the  Malays  are  like  seagulls  on 
the  water,  and  raising  their  sail,  made  of  bamboo  poles, 
14 


314  THE    GIIAVK    AT    AMIIKKST    POINT. 

and  rush  matting,  we  flew  before  the  wind,  and  were  soon 
landed  at  Amherst  Point.  This  was  holy  ground,  for  here 
Judson  had  lived,  and  here  his  wife  died  and  was  buried. 
Her  grave  is  on  the  sea-shore,  but  a  few  rods  from  the  water, 
and  we  went  straight  to  it.  It  is  a  low  mound,  with  a  plain 
headstone,  around  which  an  American  sea  captain  had  placed 
a  wooden  paling  to  guard  the  saci'ed  spot.  There  she  sleeps, 
with  only  the  murmur  of  the  waves,  as  they  come  rippling  up 
the  beach,  to  sing  her  requiem.  But  her  name  will  not  die, 
and  in  all  the  world,  where  love  and  heroism  are  remembered, 
what  this  woman  hath  done  shall  be  told  for  a  memorial  of 
her.  Her  husbaud  is  not  here,  for  (as  the  readers  of  his  life 
will  remember)  his  last  years  were  spent  at  Maulmain,  from 
Vhich  he  was  taken,  when  very  ill,  on  board  a  vessel,  bound 
for  the  Maui'itius,  in  hope  that  a  voyage  might  save  him  when 
all  other  means  had  failed,  and  died  at  sea  when  but  four 
days  out,  and  was  committed  to  the  deep  in  the  Bay  of  Ben- 
gal. One  cannot  but  regret  that  he  did  not  die  on  land,  that 
he  might  have  been  buried  beside  his  wife  in  the  soil  of 
Burmah ;  but  it  is  something  that  he  is  not  far  away,  and 
the  waters  that  i"oll  over  him  kiss  its  beloved  shores. 

Miss  Haswell  led  the  way  up  tlie  beach  to  the  little  house 
which  Judson  had  built.  It  was  unoccupied,  but  there  was 
an  old  bedstead  on  which  the  apostle  had  slept,  and  I 
stretched  myself  upon  it,  feeling  that  I  caiight  as  much  in- 
spiratioxi  lying  there  as  when  I  lay  down  in  the  sarcophagus 
of  Cheops  in  the  heart  of  the  Great  Pyramid.  We  found  a 
rude  table  too,  which  we  drew  out  upon  the  veranda,  and  a 
family  of  native  Christians  brought  us  rice  and  milk  and 
eggs,  with  which  we  made  a  breakfast  in  native  style.  The 
family  of  Miss  Haswell  once  occupied  this  mission  house, 
and  it  was  quite  enlivening  to  hear,  as  we  sat  there  quietly 
taking  our  rice  and  milk,  liow  the  tigers  used  to  come  around 
and  make  themselves  at  home,  snuffing  about  the  doors,  and 
carrying  off  dogs  from  the  veranda,  and  killing  a  buffalo  iji 


SAIL    DP   THE   8ALWEN   EIVER.  315 

the  front  yard.  They  are  not  quite  so  familiar  now  along 
the  coast,  but  in  the  interior  one  can  hardly  go  tlirough  a 
forest  without  coming  on  their  tracks.  Only  last  year  Miss 
Haswell,  on  her  way  to  attend  the  meeting  of  an  association, 
camped  in  the  woods.  She  found  the  men  were  getting 
sleepy,  and  neglected  the  fire,  and  so  she  kept  awake,  and  sat 
up  to  throw  on  the  wood.  It  was  well,  for  in  the  night  sud- 
denly all  the  cattle  sprang  up  with  every  sign  of  teri'or,  and 
there  came  on  the  air  that  strong  smell  which  none  who  have 
perceived  it  can  mistake,  which  shows  that  a  tiger  is  near. 
Doubtless  he  was  peering  at  them  through  the  covei't,  and 
nothing  but  the  blazing  fire  kept  him  away. 

After  our  repast,  we  took  a  ride  in  native  style.  A  pair 
of  oxen  was  brought  to  the  door,  with  a  cart  turned  up  at 
both  ends,  in  such  a  manner  that  those  riding  in  it  were 
dumped  into  a  heap  ;  and  thus  well  shaken  together,  we  rode 
down  to  the  shore,  where  we  had  engaged  a  boat  to  take  us 
up  the  river.  It  was  a  long  slender  skiff,  which,  with  its 
covering  of  bamboo  bent  over  it,  was  in  shape  not  unlike  a 
gondola  of  Venice.  The  arch  of  its  roof  was  of  course  not 
very  lofty  ;  we  could  not  stand  iip,  but  we  could  sit  or  lie 
down,  and  here  we  stretched  ourselves  in  glorious  ease,  and 
as  a  pleasant  breeze  came  in  from  the  sea,  our  little  bark 
moved  swiftly  before  it.  The  captain  of  our  boat  was  a 
venerable-looking  native,  like  some  of  the  Arabs  we  saw  on 
the  Nile,  with  two  boatmen  for  his  "  crew,"  stout  fellows, 
whose  brawny  limbs  were  not  confined  by  excess  of  clothing. 
In  fact,  they  had  on  only  a  single  garment,  a  kind  of  French 
blouse,  which,  by  way  of  variety,  they  took  off  and  washed 
in  the  river  as  we  sailed  along.  However,  they  had  another 
clout  for  a  change,  which  they  drew  over  them  with  great 
dexterity  before  they  took  off  the  first,  so  as  not  to  offend  us. 
Altogether  the  scene  was  not  unlike  what  some  of  my  read- 
ers may  have  witnessed  on  one  of  our  Southern  rivers ;  and 


316  MAULMAIN. 

if  we  could  only  have  had  the  rich  voices  of  the  negro  boat- 
men, singing 

"  Down  on  the  Alabama," 

the  illusion  would  have  been  complete.  Thus  in  a  dreamy 
mood,  and  with  a  gentle  motion,  we  glided  up  the  beautiful 
Salwen,  between  low  banks  covered  with  forests,  a  distance  of 
thirty  miles,  till  at  five  o'clock  we  reached  the  lower  end  of 
Maulmain,  and  went  ashore,  and  rode  two  or  three  miles  up 

the  river  to  Dr.  Haswell's,  where  Miss  H.  claimed  C for 

her  guest,  while  I  was  entertained  at  her  brother's  in  the  old 
missionary  compound,  where  Dr.  Judson  lived  for  so  many 
years,  and  which  he  left  only  to  die.  These  American 
friends,  with  their  kind  hospitalities,  made  us  feel  quite  at 
home  in  Burmah ;  and  as  if  to  bring  still  nearer  Christian 
England  and  America,  we  were  taken  the  same  evening  to  a 
prayei'-meeting  at  the  house  of  an  English  officer  who  is  in 
command  hei-e,  where  they  sang  Sankey's  hymns  ! 

Maulmain  is  a  place  of  great  natural  beauty.  Though  on 
the  river,  it  rises  from  the  water's  edge  in  steep  and  wooded 
banks,  and  has  a  background  of  hills.  One  can  hardly  find 
a  lovelier  view  in  all  the  East  than  that  from  the  hill  behind 
it,  on  which  stands  an  old  Buddhist  monastery  and  pagoda. 
Here  the  eye  ranges  over  a  distance  of  many  miles.  Sev- 
eral rivers  which  flow  together  give  the  country  the  appear- 
ance of  being  covered  with  water,  out  of  which  rise  many 
elevated  points,  like  islands  in  a  sea.  In  clear  weather,  after 
the  rains,  one  may  see  on  the  horizon  the  distant  peaks  of 
the  mountains  in  Siam.  This  was  a  favorite  resort  of  Dr. 
Judson,  who,  being  a  man  of  great  physical  as  well  as  intel- 
lectual vigor,  was  fond  of  walking,  and  loved  to  climb  the 
hills.  Miss  Haswell,  who  as  a  child  remembered  him,  told 
lis  how  she  once  saw  him  here  "  playing  tag  "  with  his  wife_, 
chasing  her  as  she  ran  down  the  hill.  This  picture  of  the 
old  man  delighted  me — to  think  that  not  all  his  labors  and 


BUDDHIST   MONKS.  317 

suffei-ings  could  subdue  that  unconquerable  bpirit,  but  that 
he  retained  even  to  old  age  the  freshness  of  a  boy,  and  was 
as  hearty  in  play  as  in  preaching.  This  is  the  sort  of  muscu- 
lar Christians  that  are  needed  to  face  the  hardships  of  a  mis- 
sionary life — men  who  will  not  faint  in  the  heat  of  the 
tropics,  nor  falter  at  the  prospect  of  imprisonment  or  death. 

While  we  stood  here  the  Buddhist  monks  were  climbing 
slowly  up  the  hill,  and  I  could  but  think  of  the  difference 
between  our  intrepid  missionary  and  these  languid,  not  to 
say  lazy,  devotees.  We  had  a  good  chance  to  observe  them, 
and  to  remark  their  resemblance  to  similar  orders  in  the 
Church  of  Home.  The  Buddhist  monk,  like  his  Romish 
brothez",  sliaves  his  head,  eats  no  animal  food  (the  command 
of  Buddha  not  to  kill,  is  interpreted  not  to  take  life  of  any 
kind),  and  lives  only  by  the  alms  of  the  faithful.  Seeing 
them  here,  with  their  shaven  heads  and  long  robes,  going 
about  the  streets,  stopping  before  the  doors  to  receive  their 
daily  tributes  of  rice,  one  is  constantly  reminded  of  the  men- 
dicant friars  of  Italy.  They  live  in  monasteries,  which  are 
generally  situated,  like  this,  on  the  tops  of  hills,  retired 
from  the  world,  where  they  keep  together  for  mutual  instiiic- 
tion,  and  to  join  in  devotion.  They  do  no  work  except  to 
ciiltivate  the  grounds  of  the  temple,  but  give  up  their  lives 
to  meditation  and  to  prayer. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  speak  of  such  men  but  with  proper 
respect.  They  are  quiet  and  inoffensive ;  some  of  them  are 
learned  ;  still  more  are  serious  and  devout.  Says  Dr.  Wil- 
liams :  "  Their  largest  monasteries  contain  extensive  libraries, 
and  a  portion  of  the  fraternity  are  well  acquainted  with  let- 
ters, though  numbers  of  them  are  ignorant  even  of  their 
own  books."  "Their  moral  character,  as  a  class,  is  on  a 
par  with  their  coiintrymen,  and  many  of  them  are  respecta- 
ble, intelligent,  and  sober-minded  persons,  who  seem  to  be 
sincerely  desirous  of  making  themselves  better,  if  possible, 
by  their  religious  observauccs." 


318  DREAMING    LIFE   AWAY. 

But  this  life  of  a  recluse,  while  favorable  to  study  and 
meditation,  does  not  inspire  active  exertion.  Indeed  the 
whole  Buddhist  philosophy  of  life  seems  to  be  comprised  in 
this,  that  man  should  dream  away  existence  here  on  earth, 
and  then  lapse  into  a  dreamy  eternity. 

"  To  be  or  not  to  be,  that's  the  question  ; " 

and  for  them  it  seems  better  "  not  to  be."  Their  heaven — 
theif  Nirvana — is  annihilation,  yet  not  absolute  non-existence, 
but  only  absorption  of  their  personality,  so  that  their  separate 
being  is  swallowed  up  and  lost  in  God.  They  will  still  be  con- 
scious, but  have  no  hope  and  no  fear,  no  dread  and  no  desire, 
but  only  survey  existence  with  the  ineffable  calm  of  the  In- 
finite One.  This  passive,  emotionless  state  is  expressed  in 
all  the  statues  and  images  of  Buddha. 

If  that  be  heaven,  it  is  not  earth  ;  and  they  who  pass  life 
in  a  dream  are  not  the  men  to  revolutionize  the  world.  This 
whole  monastery,  full  of  monks,  praying  and  chanting  for  gen- 
erations, cannot  so  stir  the  mind  of  Asia,  or  make  its  power 
felt  even  in  Burmah,  as  one  heroic  man  like  Judson. 

Miss  Haswell  belongs  to  a  family  of  missionaries.  Her 
father  and  mother  were  companions  of  Judson,  and  the 
children  are  in  one  way  and  another  devoted  to  the  same 
work.  She  has  a  school  for  girls,  which  is  said  to  be 
the  best  in  Burmah.  The  Chief  Commissioner  at  Rangoon 
spoke  of  it  in  the  highest  terms,  and  makes  special  mention 
of  it  in  his  Report.  She  told  us  with  great  modesty,  and 
almost  with  a  feeling  of  shame,  of  the  struggle  and  mor- 
tification with  which  she  had  literally  ''  begged  "  the  money 
for  it  in  America.  But  never  did  good  seed  scattered  on  the 
waters  bear  richer  fruit.  If  a  deputation  from  all  the  Bap- 
tist churches  which  contributed  to  that  school  could  but  pay 
it  a  visit,  and  see  what  it  is  doing,  it  would  never  want  for 
funds  hereafter. 

Burmah  is  a  country  which  needs  all  good  influences — 


VISIT  TO    A   PRISON.  319 

moral  and  religious.  It  needs  also  a  strong  government,  just 
laws  rigidly  enforced,  to  keep  peace  and  qrder  in  the  land. 
For  though  the  people  are  so  gay  and  merry,  there  is  a  fear- 
ful degree  of  crime.  In  Maul  main  there  is  a  prison,  which 
liolds  over  a  thousand  pi'isonex'S,  many  of  whom  have  been 
guilty  of  the  woi'st  crimes.  A  few  days  since  there  was  an 
outbreak,  and  an  attempt  to  escape.  A  number  got  out  of 
the  gate,  and  were  running  till  they  were  brought  up  by  shots 
from  the  military.  Seven  were  killed  and  seven  wounded. 
I  went  throiigh  this  prison  one  morning  with  the  physician 
as  he  made  his  rounds.  As  we  entered  a  man  was  brought 
up  who  had  been  guilty  of  some  insubordination.  He  had 
once  attempted  to  kill  the  jailer.  The  Doctor  inquired 
briefly  into  the  offence,  and  said,  without  further  words  : 
"  Give  him  fifteen  cuts."  Instantl}'  the  man  was  seized  and 
tied,  arms  extended,  and  legs  fastened,  so  that  he  could  not 
move,  and  his  back  uncovered,  and  an  attendant  standing  off, 
so  that  he  could  give  his  arm  full  swing,  gave  him  fifteen 
cuts  that  made  the  flesh  start  up  like  whip-cord,  and  the 
blood  run.  The  man  writhed  with  agony,  but  did  not 
scream.  I  suppose  such  severity  is  necessary,  but  it  was  a 
very  painful  sight.  In  the  hospital  we  found  some  of  the 
prisoners  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  mutiny.  The  ring- 
leader had  been  shot  in  the  leg,  which  had  been  amputated. 
They  had  found  that  the  ways  of  transgressors  were  hard. 

Continuing  our  walk,  we  went  through  the  different  work- 
shoj)s,  and  saw  the  kinds  of  labor  to  which  the  men  were 
put,  such  as  making  chairs  of  bamboo,  weaving  cloth,  beating 
cocoauut  husks  to  make  stuff  for  mattresses,  carving,  making 
furniture,  blacksmithiug,  &c.  The  worst  offenders  were  put 
to  grinding  corn,  as  that  was  a  species  of  labor  in  which  they 
had  no  tools  which  could  be  used  as  deadly  weapons.  The 
men  in  this  ward — perhaps  a  hundred  in  numbei- — were  des- 
j^erate  characters.  They  were  almost  all  highway  robbers, 
Dacoits,  bands  of  whom  have^  long  been  the  terror  of  the 


320  ELEPHANTS    IN   THE   TIMBER   YARDS. 

country.  They  all  liad  irons  on  their  ankles,  and  stood  up 
to  their  tasks,  working  with  their  hands.  I  was  not  sorry 
to  see  "  their  feet  made  fast  in  the  stocks,"  for  in  looking 
into  their  savage  faces,  one  conld  but  feel  that  he  would 
rather  see  them  in  chains  and  behind  iron  bars,  than  meet 
them  alone  in  a  forest. 

But  I  turn  to  a  more  agreeable  spectacle.  It  is  sometimes 
more  pleasant  to  look  at  animals  than  at  men,  certainly  when 
men  make  beasts  of  themselves,  and  when,  on  the  other 
hand,  animals  show  an  intelligence  almost  human.  One  of 
the  great  industries  of  Burmah  is  the  timber  trade.  The 
teak  wood,  which  is  the  chief  timber  cut  and  shipped,  is  very 
heavy,  and  requires  prodigious  force  to  handle  it ;  and  as  the 
Burmese  are  not  far  enough  advanced  to  use  machinery  for 
the  purpose,  they  employ  elephants,  and  bravely  do  the  noble 
beasts  perform  their  task.  In  the  timber  yards  both  at  Ran- 
goon and  at  Maulmain,  all  the  heavy  work  of  drawing  and 
piling  the  logs  is  done  by  them.  I  have  never  seen  any  ani- 
mals showing  such  intelligeaice,  and  trained  to  such  docility 
and  obedience.  In  the  yard  that  we  visited  there  were  seven 
elephants,  five  of  which  were  at  that  moment  at  work.  Their 
wonderful  strength  came  into  play  in  moving  huge  pieces  of 
timber.  I  did  not  measure  the  logs,  but  should  think  that 
many  were  at  least  twenty  feet  long  and  a  foot  square.  Yet 
a  male  ele^jhant  would  stoop  down,  and  run  his  tusks  under 
a  log,  and  throw  his  trunk  over  it,  and  walk  oif  with  it  as 
lightly  as  a  gentleman  would  balance  his  bamboo  cane  on  the 
tip  of  his  finger.  Placing  it  on  the  pile,  he  would  measure 
it  with  his  eye,  and  if  it  projected  too  far  at  either  end, 
would  walk  up  to  it,  and  with  a  gentle  push  or  pull,  make 
the  pile  even.  If  a  still  heavier  log  needed  to  be  moved  on 
the  ground  to  some  part  of  the  yard,  the  mahout,  sitting  on 
the  elephant's  head,  would  tell  him  what  to  do,  and  the  gi-eat 
creature  seemed  to  have  a  perfect  understanding  of  his 
master's  will.     He  wouhl  put  out  his  enormous  foot,  and 


BURMAH    AND   SIAM.  321 

push  it  along ;  or  he  would  bend  his  head,  and  crouching 
half  way  to  the  ground,  and  doubling  up  his  trunk  in  front, 
throw  his  whole  weight  against  it,  and  thus,  like  a  ram, 
would  "butt"  the  log  into  its  place;  or  if  it  needed  to  be 
taken  a  greater  distance,  he  would  put  a  chain  around  it, 
and  drag  it  off  behind  him.  The  female  elephant  especially 
was  employed  in  drawing,  as  having  no  tusks,  she  could  not 
lift  like  her  big  brothers,  but  could  only  move  by  her  power 
of  traction  or  attraction.  Then  using  her  trunk  as  deftly  as 
a  lady  would  use  her  fingers,  she  would  untie  the  knot  or 
unhitch  the  chain,  and  return  to  her  master,  perhaps  putting 
out  her  trunk  to  receive  a  banana  as  a  reward  for  her  good 
conduct.  It  was  a  very  pretty  sight,  and  gave  us  a  new  idea 
of  the  value  of  these  noble  creatures,  and  of  the  way  in  which 
they  can  be  trained  for  the  service  of  man,  since  they  can  be 
not  only  made  subject  to  his  will,  but  taught  to  undei-stand 
it,  thus  showing  equal  intelligence  and  docility. 

After  a  day  or  two  thus  pleasantly  passed,  we  went  on 
board  the  Malda  (which  had  finally  got  over  the  bar  and 
come  up  to  Maulmain),  and  dropped  down  the  river,  and 
were  soon  sailing  along  the  coast,  which  grows  more  beauti- 
ful as  we  steam  southward.  We  pass  a  great  number  of 
islands,  which  form  the  Mergui  Archipelago,  and  just  now 
might  be  off  the  shores  of  Greece.  Within  these  sheltered 
waters  is  Tavoy,  from  which  it  is  proposed  to  buQd  a  road 
over  the  mountains  to  Bangkok  in  Siam.  There  has  long 
been  a  path  through  the  dense  forest,  but  one  that  could  only 
be  traversed  by  elephants.  Now  it  is  proposed  to  have  a 
good  road,  the  expense  to  be  borne  by  the  two  kingdoms.  Is 
not  this  a  sign  of  progress,  of  an  era  of  peace  and  good  will  ? 
Formerly  Burmah  and  Siam  were  always  at  war.  Being 
neighbors  and  rivals,  they  were  "  natural  enemies,"  as  much 
as  were  France  and  England.  But  now  the  strong  English 
hand  imposes  peace,  and  the  two  countries  seek  a  closer  con- 
nection. The  road  thus  inaugui'ated  will  bind  them  to- 
14* 


322  PENANG. 

gether,  and  prove  not  only  an  avenue  of  commerce  but  a 
highway  of  civilization. 

At  Penan  g  we  enter  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  on  one  side  of 
which  is  the  Malayan  Peninsula,  and  on  the  other  the  island 
of  Sumatra,  which  is  larger  than  all  Great  Britain,  and 
where  just  now,  at  this  upper  end,  the  Dutch  have  a  war  on 
their  hands.  Penang  is  opposite  Acheen,  and  the  Malays, 
who  are  engaged  in  such  a  desperate  resistance  to  the  Dutch, 
often  cross  the  Straits,  and  may  be  seen  at  any  time  in  the 
streets  of  the  English  settlement.  Perhaps  it  is  but  natural 
that  the  English  should  have  a  sympathy  with  these  natives, 
who  are  defending  their  country  against  invaders,  thoiigh  I 
do  not  perceive  that  this  makes  them  more  ready  to  yield 
the  ground  on  their  own  side  of  the  Straits,  where  just  now, 
at  Perak,  they  have  a  little  war  of  their  own.  To  this  war 
in  Acheen  I  may  refer  again,  when  I  come  to  write  of  the 
Dutch  power  in  Java. 

Bayard  Taylor  celebrates  Penang  as  "  the  most  beautiful 
island  in  the  world,"  which  is  a  great  deal  for  one  to  say  who 
has  travelled  so  far  and  seen  so  much.  I  could  not  be  quite 
so  enthusiastic,  and  yet  I  do  not  wonder  at  any  degree  of 
rapture  in  one  who  climbs  the  Peak  of  Penang,  which  com- 
mands a  view  not  only  of  the  town  and  harbor  below,  but  of 
other  islands  and  waters,  as  well  as  of  mountains  and  valleys 
in  the  interior,  which  are  a  part  of  Siam.  Turning  seaward, 
and  looking  down,  this  little  island  of  Penang  appears  as  the 
gem  of  the  scene — a  mass  of  the  richest  tropical  vegetation, 
set  in  the  midst  of  tropical  seas. 

We  were  now  in  the  tropics  indeed.  We  had  been  for 
weeks,  but  we  had  a  more  "realizing  sense"  of  it  as  we  got 
into  the  lower  latitudes.  The  heat  grew  intense  as  we  ap- 
proached the  Equator.  One  after  another  we  laid  aside  the 
garments  of  the  colder  North,  and  put  on  the  lightest  and 
thinnest  costume,  till  we  did  not  know  but  our  only  relief 
would  be  that  suggested  by  Sydney  Smith,  "  to  take  off  our 


APPROACHING    TlIK    EQUATOR.  323 

flesh  and  sit  in  our  bones."  With  double  awnings  spread 
over  the  deck,  and  the  motion  of  the  ship  stirring  the  air, 
still  the  vertical  sun  was  quite  overpowering.  We  were 
obliged  to  keep  on  deck  day  and  night,  although  there  was 
ample  room  below.  As  there  were  but  eight  passengers  in 
the  cabin,  each  had  a  state-room;  but  with  all  this  space,  and 
portholes  wide  open,  still  it  was  impossible  to  keep  cool.  An 
iron  ship  becomes  so  heated  that  the  state-rooms  are  like 
ovens.  So  we  had  to  take  refuge  on  deck.  Every  evening 
the  servants  appeared,  bringing  o\ir  mattresses,  which  were 
spread  on  the  skylight  above  the  cabin.  This  was  very  well 
for  the  gentlemen  of  our  company,  but  offered  no  relief  of 
coolness  for  our  only  lady  passenger.  But  a  couple  of  gal- 
lant young  Englishmen,  who  with  us  were  making  the  tour 
of  the  world,  were  determined  that  she  should  not  be  im- 
prisoned beloWj  and  they  set  up  on  deck  a  screen,  in  which 
she  was  enclosed  as  in  a  tent ;  and  not  Cleopatra,  when 
floating  in  her  gilded  barge,  reclined  more  royally  than  she, 
thus  lifted  up  into  the  cool  night  air.  Then  we  all  had  our 
reward.  The  glory  of  the  night  made  up  for  the  fervors  of 
the  day.  From  our  pillows  we  looked  out  upon  the  sea,  and 
as  the  hot  day  brought  thunderstorms,  the  lightning  playing 
on  the  distant  horizon  lighted  up  the  watery  leagues  around, 
till  it  seemed  as  if  we  were 

"  Alone,  alone,  all,  all  alone, 
Alone  on  the  wide,  wide  sea," 

floating  on  in  darkness  over  an  unfathomable  abyss.  At 
other  times  the  sea  was  luminous  with  the  light  which  she 
carries  in  her  own  bosom.  These  Southern  seas  are  full  of 
those  marine  insects  which  shine  like  glow-worms  in  the 
dark  ;  and  when  the  waters  were  calm  and  still,  when  there 
was  not  a  ripple  on  the  bosom  of  the  deep,  we  leaned  over 
the  stern  of  the  ship  to  watch  the  long  track  of  light  which 
she  left  in  the  phosphorescent  sea.     But  brighter  than  this 


324  SOUTHERN   POINT   OF    ASIA — SINGAPORE. 

watery  illumination  was  tlie  sky  above,  wliich  was  all  aglow 
with  celestial  fires.  We  had  long  become  familiar  with  the 
Southern  Cross,  which  we  first  saw  in  Egypt  on  the  Nile, 
near  the  First  Cataract.  But  then  it  was  just  above  the 
horizon.  Now  it  shone  in  mid-heaven,  while  around  it  were 
gathered  the  constellations  of  the  Southern  hemisphere.  I 
have  seen  the  stars  on  the  desert  and  on  the  sea,  but  never 
anything  before  that  quite  equalled  these  nights  on  the 
Equator. 

But  our  voyage  was  coming  to  an  end.  We  had  already 
been  twice  as  long  on  the  Bay  of  Bengal  as  in  crossing  the 
Atlantic.  It  was  the  last  day  of  March  when  the  captain 
of  the  ship  came  to  me,  as  I  was  standing  on  deck,  and  said  : 
"  Do  you  see  that  low  point  of  land,  with  the  trees  upon  it, 
coming  down  to  the  water?  That  is  the  most  Southern 
point  of  Asia."  That  great  continent,  which  we  saw  first  at 
Constantinople,  and  had  followed  so  far  around  the  globe, 
ended  here.  An  hour  afterward,  as  we  rounded  into  Sixiga- 
pore,  a  hand  pointed  Eastward,  and  a  voice  at  my  side  said : 
"  Uncle,  there's  the  Pacific !  "  She  who  spoke  might  per- 
haps have  said  rather,  "  There  are  the  China  Seas,"  but  they 
are  a  part  of  the  great  Ocean  which  rolls  its  waters  from  Asia 
to  America. 

Singapore  is  on  an  island,  at  the  very  end  of  the  penin- 
sula, so  that  it  may  be  called  truly  "the  jumping-off  place." 
On  this  point  of  land,  but  a  degree  and  a  half  from  the 
Equator,  England  has  planted  one  of  those  colonies  by  which 
she  keeps  guard  along  the  coasts,  and  over  the  waters,  of 
Southern  Asia.  The  town,  which  has  a  population  of  nearly 
a  hundred  thousand,  is  almost  wholly  Chinese,  but  it  is  the 
English  power  which  is  seen  in  the  harbor  filled  with  ships, 
and  the  fort  mounted  with  guns ;  and  English  taste  which 
has  laid  out  the  streets  and  squares,  and  erected  the  public 
buildings.  This  might  be  called  the  Island  of  Palms,  which 
grow  here  in  great  profusion — the  tall  cocoanut  palm  with 


smaATORE.  325 

its  slender  stem,  the  fan  palm  with  its  broad  leaves,  and  many 
other  varieties  which  mantle  the  hillsides,  forming  a  rich 
background  for  the  European  bungaloes  that  peer  out  from 
under  a  mass  of  tropical  foliage. 

Whoever  goes  arounS  the  world  must  needs  pass  by  Sin- 
gapore. It  is  the  one  inevitable  point  in  Asia,  as  San  Fran- 
cisco is  in  Amei-ica.  One  is  sure  to  meet  here  ti-avellers, 
mostly  English  and  American,  passing  to  and  fro,  from  India 
to  China,  or  from  China  to  India,  making  the  Grand  Tour. 
So  common  are  they  that  they  cease  to  inspire  as  much  awe 
as  Marco  Polo  or  Capt.  Cook,  and  have  even  received  the 
nickname  of  "  globe-trottei-s,"  and  are  looked  upon  as  quite 
ordinary  individuals.  Singapore  is  a  good  resting-point  for 
Americans — a  convenient  half-way  house — as  it  is  almost 
exactly  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe  from  Kew  York. 
Having  "  trotted  "  thus  far,  we  may  be  allowed  to  rest,  at 
least  over  Sunday,  before  we  take  a  new  start,  and  sail  away 
into  the  Southern  hemisphere. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE    ISLAND    OF  JAVA. 

Most  travellers  who  touch  at  Singapore  sweep  round  that 
point  like  a  race-horse,  eager  to  be  on  the  "  home  stretch." 
But  in  turning  north,  they  turn  away  from  a  beauty  of  which 
they  do  not  dream.  They  know  not  what  islands,  embow- 
ered in  foliage,  lie  in  those  Soutliern  seas — what  visions 
would  reward  them  if  tliey  would  but  "  those  realms  ex- 
plore." The  Malayan  Peninsula  is  a  connecting  link  between 
two  gi-eat  divisions  of  the  globe  ;  it  is  a  bridge  hundreds  of 
miles  long — a  real  Giants'  Causeway,  reaching  out  from  the 
mainland  of  Asia  towards  the  Island  World  beyond — a  world 
with  an  interest  all  its  own,  which,  now  that  we  were  so  near, 
attracted  us  to  its  shores.  Leaving  our  fellow-travellers  to 
go  on  to  Siam  or  to  China,  we  took  the  steamer  of  the  Neth- 
erlands India  Company  for  Java.  It  was  a  little  boat  of  but 
250  tons,  but  it  shot  away  like  an  arrow,  and  was  soon  flying 
like  a  sea-bird  among  islands  covered  with  palm  groves.  On 
our  right  was  the  long  coast  of  Sumatra.  Towards  evening 
we  entered  the  Straits  of  Ehio,  and  in  the  night  crossed  the 
Eqiiator.  When  as  a  child  I  turned  over  the  globe,  I  found 
this  line  indicated  by  a  brass  ring,  and  rather  expected  that 
the  ship  would  get  a  thump  as  she  passed  over  it ;  but  she 
crossed  without  a  shock,  or  even  a  jar ;  ocean  melted  into 
ocean ;  the  waters  of  the  China  and  the  Java  seas  flowed  to- 
gether, and  we  were  in  the  Southern  hemisphere. 

The  first  thing  on  board  which  struck  us  strangely  was  that 
we  had  lost  our  language.     The  steamer  was  Dutch,  and  the 


WILD   MEN    OF   THE   WOODS.  327 

officers  spoke  only  Dutch.  But  on  all  these  waters  will  be 
found  passing  to  and  fro  gentlemen  of  intelligence,  holding 
official  positions  here,  but  who  have  lived  long  in  Europe,  and 
who  speak  English  or  French.  At  Rhio  we  were  joined  by 
the  Resident,  the  highest  official  of  that  island,  and  by  the 
Inspector  of  Schools  from  Batavia ;  and  the  next  day,  as 
we  entered  the  Straits  of  Banca,  by  the  Resident  of  Pa- 
lembang  in  Sumatra — all  of  whom  were  very  polite  to  us  as 
strangers.  We  saw  them  again  in  Java,  and  when  we  parted, 
felt  almost  that  they  were  not  only  acquaintances,  but  friends. 
They  were  of  coui-se  thoroughly  informed  about  the  new 
world  around  us,  and  were  ready  to  enlighten  our  ignorance. 
We  sat  on  deck  at  evening,  and  as  they  puffed  their  cigars 
with  the  tranquillity  of  true  Dutchmen,  we  listened  to  their 
discourse  about  the  islands  and  people  of  the  Malayan  Archi- 
pelago. 

This  part  of  the  world  would  delight  Mr.  Darwin  by  the 
strange  races  it  contains,  some  of  which  approach  the  animal 
tribes.  In  the  island  of  Rhio  the  Resident  assured  me  there 
were  wild  men  who  lived  in  trees,  and  had  no  language  but 
cries ;  and  in  Sumatra  the  Resident  of  Palembang  said  there 
were  men  who  lived  in  the  forests,  with  whom  not  only  the  Eu- 
ropeans, but  even  the  Malays,  could  have  no  intercourse.  He 
himself  had  never  seen  one.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  they  have 
a  petty  traffic  with  the  outer  world,  yet  not  through  the  me- 
dium of  speech.  They  live  in  the  woods,  and  live  by  the 
chase.  They  hunt  tigers,  not  with  the  gun,  but  with  a  weapon 
called  a  sumpitan,  which  is  a  long  tube,  out  of  which  they 
blow  arrows  with  such  force,  and  that  are  so  keen  of  point, 
and  touched  with  such  deadly  poison,  that  a  wound  is  al- 
most immediately  fatal.  These  tiger  skins  or  elephant  tusks 
they  bring  for  barter — not  for  sale — they  never  sell  any- 
tliing,  for  money  is  about  the  most  useless  thing  they  could 
have ;  they  cannot  eat  it,  or  drink  it,  or  wear  it.  But  as 
they  have   wants,  they  exchange ;  yet  they  themselves  are 


328  THE   ISLAND   OF    SUMATRA. 

never  seen.  They  bring  what  they  have  to  the  edge  of  the 
forest,  and  leave  it  there,  and  the  Malays  come  and  place 
what  they  have  to  dispose  of,  and  retire.  If  the  offer  is 
satisfactory,  when  the  Malays  return  they  find  what  they 
brought  gone,  and  take  what  is  left  and  depart.  If  not,  they 
add  a  few  trifles  more  to  tempt  the  eyes  of  these  wild  men  of 
the  woods,  and  so  at  last  the  exchange  is  effected,  yet  all  the 
while  the  sellers  keep  themselves  in^^sible.  This  mode  of 
barter  argues  great  honesty  on  both  sides. 

This  island  of  Sumatra  is  a  world  in  itself.  The  Resident 
of  Palembang  has  under  him  a  countiy  as  large  as  the  whole 
of  Java.  The  people  of  Palembang  are  Malays  and  Chinegje, 
thousands  of  whom  live  on  rafts.  In  the  interior  of  the 
island  there  are  different  races,  speaking  a  dozen  different 
languages  or  dialects.  But  with  all  its  population,  the 
gi'eater  part  of  the  country  is  still  given  up  to  forest  and 
jungle,  the  home  of  wild  beasts — of  the  tiger  and  the  rhino- 
ceros. Wild  elephants  range  the  forests  in  great  numbers. 
He  had  often  seen  them  in  herds  of  two  or  three  hundred. 
It  seemed  strange  that  they  were  not  tamed,  as  in  India  and 
Burmah.  But  such  is  not  the  habit  of  the  people,  who  hunt 
them  for  ivory,  but  never  attempt  to  siibdue  them,  or  use 
them  as  beasts  of  burden.  Hence  they  become  a  great 
nuisance,  as  they  come  about  the  villages  and  break  into  the 
plantations ;  and  it  is  only  when  a  grand  hunt  is  organized 
for  their  destruction,  that  a  neighborhood  can  be  for  a  time 
rid  of  the  pest. 

But  if  these  are  uncomfortable  neighbors,  there  are  others 
that  are  more  so — the  reptiles,  which  abound  here  as  in  In- 
dia. But  familiarity  breeds  contempt  or  indifference.  The 
people  are  not  afraid  of  them,  and  hardly  notice  them,  but 
speak  of  them  in  an  easy  sort  of  way,  as  if  they  were  the 
most  harmless  things  in  nature — poor  innocent  creatures, 
which  might  almost  be  pets  in  the  family,  and  allowed  to  run 
about  the  house  at  their  will.     Soberly,  there  are  certain  do- 


DOMESTICATED   SNAKES.  329 

mestic  snakes  which  are  indulged  with  these  liberties.  Said 
Mr.  K. :  "  I  was  once  visiting  in  Sumatra,  and  fspending  a 
night  at  the  house  of  a  friend.  I  heard  a  noise  overhead, 
and  asked,  *  What  is  that  ?  '  *  Oh,  nothing,'  they  said ;  '  it's 
only  the  serpent.'  '  What !  do  you  keep  a  family  snake  ?  ' 
*  Yes,'  they  said ;  it  was  a  large  black  snake  which  frequented 
the  house,  and  as  it  did  no  mischief,  and  hunted  the  rats, 
they  let  it  roam  about  wherever  it  liked."  Thinking  this 
rather  a  big  story,  with  Avhich  our  friend  might  practise  on 
the  credulity  of  a  stranger,  I  burned  to  the  Resident  of 
Palembang,  who  confirmed  it.  He  said  this  domestication 
of  serpents  was  not  uncommon.  There  was  a  kind  of  boa 
that  was  very  useful  as  an  exterminator  of  rats,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  good  Dutch  housekeepers  allowed  it  to  crawl 
about  or  to  lie  coiled  up  in  the  pantry.  Sometimes  this  in- 
tei'esting  member  of  the  family  was  stretched  out  on  the 
veranda  to  bask  in  the  s\in — a  pleasant  object  to  any  stranger 
■who  might  be  invited  to  accept  hospitality.  I  think  I  should 
have  an  engagement  elsewhere,  however  pressing  the  invita- 
tion, I  never  could  "  abide  "  snakes.  From  the  Old  Serpent 
down,  they  have  been  my  aversion,  and  I  beg  to  decline  their 
company,  though  they  should  be  as  insinuating  as  the  one 
that  tempted  Eve.  But  an  English  merchant  in  Java  after- 
wards assured  me  that  "  snakes  were  the  best  gardeners  ;  that 
they  devoured  the  worms  and  insects  and  small  animals ; 
and  that  for  his  part,  he  was  rather  pleased  than  otherwise 
when  he  saw  a  big  boa  crawling  among  the  vines  or  in  the 
rice-fields."  I  thought  that  the  first  instance  of  a  serpent's 
gardening  was  in  Paradise,  the  effect  of  which  was  not  en- 
couraging, but  there  is  no  disputing  about  tastes.  He  said 
they  frequently  came  around  the  houses,  but  did  not  often 
enter  them,  except  that  they  were  very  fond  of  music  (the  dear 
creatures  !)  ;  and  sometimes  in  the  evening,  as  doors  and  win- 
dows were  left  open  for  coolness,  if  the  music  was  very  fine,  a 
head  might  be  thrust  in  of  a  guest  that  had  not  been  invited. 


330  SUMATRA. 

But  our  conversation  was  not  limited  to  this  harrowing 
topic,  but  ranged  over  many  features  of  Sumatra — its  scenery 
and  climate,  soil  and  vegetation.  It  is  indeed  a  magnificent 
island.  Over  a  thousand  miles  long,  and  with  more  square 
miles  than  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  together,  it  is  large 
enough  for  a  kingdom.  In  some  parts  the  scenery  is  as  grand 
as  that  of  Switzerland.  Along  the  western  coast  is  a  range 
of  mountains  like  the  Alps  (some  peaks  are  15,000  feet 
high),  among  which  is  set  many  an  Alpine  valley,  with  its 
glistening  lake.  That  coast  is  indented  with  bays,  on  one 
of  which  is  the  Dutch  capital,  Padang.  East  of  the  moun- 
tains the  island  spreads  out  into  vast  plains,  watered  by  no- 
ble rivers.  The  soil  is  very  rich,  yielding  all  the  fruits  of 
the  tropics  in  great  abundance.  The  tobacco  especially  is  of 
a  much  finer  quality  than  that  of  Java,  and  brings  twice  as 
much  in  the  market.  This  fertility  will  attract  population 
both  from  Asia  and  from  Eiirope,  and  under  a  good  govern- 
ment this  island  may  yet  be  the  seat  of  an  empire  worthy  of 
its  greatness. 

But  just  now  the  Dutch  have  a  task  to  bring  it  into  sub- 
jection. They  have  an  enemy  in  the  North  harder  to  sub- 
due than  tigers  and  wild  elephants.  These  are  the  terrible 
Malays,  against  whom  has  been  kept  up  for  years  the  war  in 
Acheen — a  war  waged  with  such  deadly  and  vmrelenting 
hate  and  fury,  that  it  has  taken  on  a  character  of  ferocity. 
Of  the  right  or  wrong  of  this  savage  contest,  I  cannot  judge, 
for  I  hear  only  one  side  of  the  story.  I  am  told  that  the 
Malays  are  a  race  of  pirates,  with  whom  it  is  impossible  to 
live  in  good  neighborhood,  and  that  there  can  be  no  peace 
till  they  are  subdued.  At  the  same  time,  one  cannot  refuse 
a  degree  of  sympathy  even  to  savages  who  defend  their  own 
country,  and  who  fight  with  such  conspicuous  bravery.  To 
this  all  the  Dutch  officers  bore  testimony,  saying  that  they 
fought  "  like  devils."  The  Malays  are  very  much  like  our 
American    Indians,   both    in    features  and  in   character — a 


THE   WAR   IN    ACIIEEN.  331 

proud,  high-spirited  race,  capable  of  any  act  of  courage  or 
devotion,  but  full  of  that  hot  blood  that  resents  an  insult. 
"  If  you  have  a  Malay  servant,"  I  heard  often  in  the  East, 
"  you  may  scold  him  or  send  him  away,  but  never  strike  him, 
for  that  is  an  indignity  which  he  feels  more  than  a  wound  ; 
which  he  never  forgets  or  forgives ;  but  which,  if  he  has  an 
opportunity,  he  will  avenge  with  blood."  Such  a  people, 
when  they  come  into  battle,  sacrifice  their  lives  without  a 
moment's  hesitation.  They  have  a  great  advantage,  as  they 
are  in  their  own  territory,  and  can  choose  their  own  time 
and  place  of  attack,  or  keep  out  of  the  way,  leaving  the 
enemy  to  be  worn  out  by  the  hot  climate  and  by  disease.  Of 
course  if  the  Dutch  could  once  bring  them  within  range  of 
their  guns,  or  entice  them  into  a  pitched  battle,  European 
skill  and  discipline  would  be  victorious.  But  the  Malays  are 
too  wary  and  active  ;  they  hide  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  hills, 
and  start  up  here  and  there  in  unexpected  quarters,  and  after 
a  sudden  dash,  fly  to  the  mountains.  They  have  a  powerful 
ally  in  the  pestilential  climate,  which  brings  on  those  deadly 
fevers  that  kill  more  than  perish  in  battle.  Such  a  war 
may  drag  on  for  years,  during  which  the  Dutch  territory  will 
not  extend  much  beyond  the  places  occupied  by  troops,  or 
the  ports  defended  by  the  guns  of  the  fleet.  If  the  Dutch 
hold  on  with  their  proverbial  tenacity,  they  may  conquer  in 
the  end,  though  at  an  immense  cost  in  treasure  and  in  life. 
If  the  Malays  are  once  subdued,  and  by  a  wise  and  lenient 
policy  converted  to  some  degree  of  loyalty,  they  may  prove, 
like  the  Sikhs  in  India,  the  brave  defenders  of  the  power 
against  which  they  fought  so  well. 

With  such  conversation  to  lighten  the  hours,  they  did  not 
seem  long,  as  we  were  running  through  the  Java  Sea.  On 
the  third  day  from  Singapore,  we  came  among  the  Thousand 
Islands,  and  in  the  afternoon  descried  on  the  horizon  the 
mountains  of  Java,  and  just  at  sunset  were  in  the  roads  of 
Batavia.     There  is  no  harbor,  but  an  open  roadstead ;  and 


332  BATAVIA. 

here  a  whole  fleet  of  ships  were  riding  at  anchor — ships  of 
war  and  merchant  ships  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  was 
two  or  three  miles  from  the  quay,  but  as  the  evening  drew 
on,  we  could  see  lights  along  the  shore ;  and  at  eight  o'clock, 
just  as  the  gun  was  fired  from  the  flagship  of  tlie  Dutch  Ad- 
miral, we  put  ofl"  in  a  native  boat,  manned  by  a  Malay  crew. 
It  was  a  beautiful  moonlight  night,  and  we  seemed  to  be 
floating  in  a  dream,  as  our  swarthy  boatmen  bent  to  their 
oars,  and  we  glided  silently  over  a  tropical  sea  to  this  im- 
known  shore. 

At  the  Custom  House  a  dai-k-skinned  official,  whose  but- 
tons gave  him  a  military  air,  received  us  with  dignity,  and 
demanded  if  we  had  "  pistolets,"  and  being  satisfied  that  we 
were  not  attempting  an  armed  invasion  of  the  island,  gave 
but  a  glance  at  our  trunks,  and  politely  bowed  us  to  a  car- 
riage that  was  standing  outside  the  gates,  and  away  we 
rattled  through  the  streets  of  Batavia  to  the  Hotel  Neder- 
land. 

The  next  morning  at  an  early  hour  we  were  riding  about 
to  "take  our  bearings"  and  adjust  ourselves  to  the  situa- 
tion. If  we  had  not  known  where  we  wei-e,  but  only  that  we 
were  in  some  distant  pal't  of  the  world,  we  could  soon  guess 
that  we  were  in  a  Dutch  rather  than  in  an  English  colony. 
Here  were  the  inevitable  canals  which  the  Dutch  carry  with 
them  to  all  parts  of  the  earth.  The  city  is  intersected  by 
these  watery  streets,  and  the  boats  in  them  might  be  lying  at 
the  quays  of  Eotterdam  or  Amsterdam.  The  city  reminds  us 
a  good  deal  of  the  Hague,  in  its  broad  stieets  lined  with 
trees,  and  its  houses,  which  have  a  substantial  Dutch  look,  as 
if  they  were  built  for  comfort  and  not  for  show.  They  are 
low  and  large,  spreading  out  over  a  great  deal  of  stirface,  but 
not  towering  ambitiously  upwards.  A  pretty  sight  it  was  to 
see  these  fine  old  mansions,  standing  back  from  the  street, 
with  ample  space  around  them,  embowered  in  trees  and 
shrubbery,  with  lawns  and  gardens  kept  in  perfect  order ;  and 


BATAVIA.  333 

with  all  the  doors  and  windows  wide  open,  through  which 
we  could  see  the  breakfast  tables  spread,  as  if  to  invite  even 
strangers,  such  as  we  were,  to  enter  and  share  their  hospi- 
tality. Before  we  left  Java,  we  were  guests  in  one  of  these 
mansions,  and  found  that  Dutch  hospitality  was  not  merely 
in  name. 

Among  the  oi-naments  of  the  city  are  \'wo  large  and  hand- 
some public  squares — the  King's  Plain  and  Waterloo  Plain. 
The  latter  name  reminds  us  that  the  Dutch  had  a  part  in  the 
battle  of  Waterloo.  With  pardonable  pride  they  are  per- 
suaded that  the  contingent  which  they  contributed  to  the 
army  of  Wellington  had  no  small  part  in  deciding  the  issue 
of  that  terrible  day,  and  they  thus  commemorate  iheir  victory. 
This  plain  is  used  as  a  parade-ground,  and  the  Dutch  cavalry 
charge  over  it  with  ardor,  inspired  by  such  heroic  memories. 

It  may  surprise  some  of  my  readers  accustomed  to  our  new 
American  cities,  to  learn  how  old  is  Batavia.  About  the  time 
that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  sailed  from  Holland,  another  expe- 
dition from  the  same  country  carried  the  Dutch  flag  to  the 
other  side  of  the  world,  and  Batavia  was  settled  the  year 
before  the  landing  on  Plymouth  Rock.  Of  course  it  was  a 
very  small  beginning  of  their  power  in  the  East,  but  slowly 
the  petty  trading  settlement  grew  into  a  colony,  and  its  terri- 
tory was  extended  by  degrees  till,  more  than  a  hundred  years 
after,  it  took  in  the  whole  island.'  In  the  old  palace  on 
Waterloo  Plain,  now  used  as  a  museum,  are  the  portraits  of 
Dutch  governors  who  have  ruled  here  for  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years. 

But  the  capital  of  Java — at  least  the  residence  of  the  Gov- 
ernor-General— is  not  at  Batavia,  but  at  Buitenzorg,  nearly 
forty  miles  in  the  interior,  to  which  one  can  go  by  railroad 
in  two  hours.  As  we  took  our  seats  in  the  carriage  we  had 
the  good  fortune  to  meet  Mr.  Fraser,  an  English  merchant, 
who  has  lived  many  years  in  Java,  and  is  well  known  and 
highly  respected  throughout  the  island,  who  gave  us  infor- 


334  THE   KICE   FIELDS. 

mation  of  the  country  over  which  we  were  passing.  The 
plains  near  the  sea  had  at  this  time  an  appearance  of  great 
beauty.  They  were  laid  out  in  rice  fields  which  have  a  more 
vivid  color  than  fields  of  grain,  and  now  shone  with  an  emer- 
ald green.  It  was  the  time  of  the  gathering  of  the  harvest, 
and  the  fields  were  filled  with  reapers,  men  and  women, 
young  men  and  maidens.  But  one  hears  not  the  click  of 
the  reaper.  I  am  told  that  the  attempt  to  introduce  a  mow- 
ing machine  or  a  patent  reaper  would  make  a  revolution  in 
the  island.  All  the  rice  of  Java  is  cut  by  hand,  and  not 
even  with  the  sickle,  which  is  an  instrument  much  too  coarse 
for  this  dainty  work,  but  with  a  knife  three  or  four  inches 
long,  so  that  the  spears  are  clipped  as  with  a  pair  of  scissors. 
Taking  a  few  blades  gently,  they  cut  them  off,  and  when  they 
have  a  handful  bind  it  in  a  tiny  sheaf  about  as  large  as  a 
bunch  of  asparagus.  When  they  have  cut  and  bound  up 
five,  one  is  laid  aside  for  the  landlord  and  four  go  to  the  cul- 
tivators. 

This  slow  progress  might  make  a  young  American  farmer 
very  impatient.  Perliaps  not,  if  he  knew  all  the  charms  of 
the  rice  field,  which  might  make  a  country  swain  quite  will- 
ing to  linger.  Mr.  Fraser  explained  that  this  season  was 
the  time,  and  the  rice  field  the  scene,  of  the  matrimonial 
engagements  made  during  the  year !  Ah,  now  it  is  all  ex- 
plained. Who  can  wonder  that  the  gentle  reapers  linger  over 
the  rice  blades  while  they  are  proposing  or  answering  ques- 
tions on  which  their  whole  life  may  depend  ?  No  doubt  in 
merry  England  it  has  often  happened  that  hay-making  and 
love-making  have  gone  on  in  the  fields  together.  And  we 
cannot  wonder  that  such  rural  arts  should  be  known  in  a 
land  warmed  by  a  tropical  sun. 

But  the  food  of  the  natives  is  not  found  in  the  rice  fields 
alone  ;  it  is  brought  down  from  the  top  of  the  cocoanut  palm, 
and  drawn  up  from  the  bottom  of  caves  of  the  earth.  "  Do 
you  see  yonder  small  mountain  ?  "  said  Mr.  F.     *'  That  is  a 


BUITENZORG.  335 

famous  hunting-gx'ound  for  the  edible  birds'  nests,  which  are 
esteemed  such  a  delicacy  by  the  Chinese.  The  birds  are 
swallows  and  build  their  nests  in  caves,  into  which  the  hunt- 
ers are  let  down  by  long  bamboo  ropes,  and  drawn  up  laden 
with  spoil.  So  gieat  has  been  the  yield,  and  so  highly  prized, 
that  the  product  of  that  hill  exported  to  China  in  one  year 
returned  a  profit  of  £4,000.  Of  late  this  has  been  much 
reduced,  o\ving  to  the  diminished  production,  or  that  the 
Chinese  are  not  ready  to  pay  so  much  for  such  dainty  lux- 
uries." 

At  Buitenzorg  the  low  land  of  the  coast  is  exchanged  for 
the  hDls.  We  ai'e  at  the  foot  of  the  range  of  mountains 
which  forms  the  backbone  of  the  island.  To  give  an  idea  of 
the  character  of  the  scenery,  let  me  sketch  a  picture  from  my 
own  door  in  the  Bellevue  Hotel.  The  rooms,  as  in  all  tropical 
climates,  open  on  a  broad  veranda.  Here,  stretched  in  one 
of  the  easy  chairs  made  of  bamboo,  we  look  out  upon  a  scene 
which  might  be  in  Switzerland,  so  many  features  has  it  which 
are  Alpine  in  their  character.  The  hotel  stands  on  a  pro- 
jecting shelf  of  rock  or  spur  of  a  hill,  overlooking  a  deep 
gorge,  through  which  flows,  or  rather  rushes,  a  foaming 
mountain  torrent,  whose  ceaseless  murmurs  come  up  from 
below  ;  while  in  front,  only  three  or  four  miles  distant,  rises 
the  broad  breast  of  a  mountain,  very  much  like  the  lower 
summits  or  foothills  of  the  Alps,  which  hang  over  many  a 
sequestei'ed  vale  in  Switzerland  or  in  the  Tyrol. 

But  here  the  resemblance  ends.  For  as  we  descend  from 
the  broad  outlines  of  the  landscape  to  closer  details,  it  changes 
from  the  rugged  features  of  an  Alpine  pass,  and  takes  its 
ti-ue  tropical  character.  There  are  no  snow-clad  peaks,  for 
we  are  almost  under  the  Equator.  Tlie  .scene  might  be  in  the 
Andes  rather  than  in  the  Alps.  The  mountain  before  us,  the 
Salak,  is  a  volcano,  though  not  now  in  action.  As  we  look 
down  from  our  perch,  the  eye  rests  upon  a  forest  such  as  is 
never  seen  in  the  Alps.     Here  are  no  dai'k  pines,  such  afi 


33G  THE    BOTANICAL    GARDEN. 

clothe  the  sides  of  the  vale  of  Chamouni.  In  the  foregi'oimd, 
on  the  river  bank,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  is  a  cluster  of. native 
hnts,  half  hidden  by  long  feathery  bamboos  and  bvoad-leaved 
palms.  The  forest  seems  to  be  made  up  of  palms  of  every 
variety — the  cocoanut  palm,  the  sago  palm,  and  the  sugar 
palm,  with  which  are  mingled  the  bread-fruit  tree,  and  the 
mitmeg,  and  the  banana;  and  not  least  of  all,  the  cinchona, 
lately  imported  from  South  American  forests,  which  yields 
the  famous  Peruvian  bark.  The  attempt  to  acclimatize  this 
shrub,  so  precious  in  medicine,  has  been  completely  successful, 
so  that  the  quinine  of  Java  is  said  to  be  even  better  than 
that  of  South  America.  In  the  middle  distance  are  the  rice 
fields,  with  their  intense  green,  and  farther,  on  the  side  of 
the  mountain,  are  the  coffee  plantations,  for  which  Java  is  so 
famous. 

Buitenzorg  has  a  Botanical  Garden,  the  finest  by  far  to  be 
found  out  of  Eui'ope,  and  the  richest  in  the  world  in  the 
special  department  of  tropical  plants  and  trees.  All  that  the 
tropics  pour  from  their  bounteous  stores ;  all  those  forms  of 
vegetable  life  created  by  the  mighty  rains  and  mightier  sun 
of  the  Equator — gigantic  ferns,  like  trees,  and  innumerable 
orchids  (plants  that  live  on  air) — are  here  in  countless  pro- 
fusion. One  of  the  glories  of  the  Garden  is  an  india-rubber 
tree  of  great  size,  which  spreads  out  its  arms  like  an  English 
oak,  but  dropping  shoots  here  and  there  \for  it  is  a  species 
of  banyan)  which  take  root  and  spring  up  again,  so  that  the 
tree  broadens  its  shade,  and  as  the  leaves  are  thick  and  tough 
as  leather,  offers  a  shield  against  even  the  vertical  sun.  There 
are  hundreds  of  varieties  of  palms — African  and  South  Ameri- 
can— some  of  enormous  height  and  breadth,  which,  as  we 
walked  under  their  shade,  seemed  almost  worthy  to  stand  on 
the  banks  of  the  Kiver  of  Life. 

Such  a  vast  collection  offers  an  attraction  like  the  Garden 
of  Plants  in  Paris.  I  met  here  the  Italian  naturalist  Bec- 
cari,  who  was  spending  some  weeks  at  Buitenzorg  to  make  a 


AN   ITALIAN   NATUBALIST.  337 

study  of  a  garden  in  which  he  had  the  whole  tropics  in  a 
space  of  perhaps  a  hundred  acres.  He  has  spent  the  last 
eight  years  of  his  life  in  the  iNIalayan  Archipelago,  dividing 
Lis  time,  except  a  few  months  in  the  Moluccas,  between  Bor- 
neo and  New  Guinea.  The  latter  island  he  considered  licher 
in  its  fauna  and  flora  than  any  other  equal  spot  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  globe,  with  many  species  of  plants  and  animals  un- 
known elsewhere.  He  had  his  own  boat,  and  sailed  along  the 
coast  and  up  the  rivers  at  his  will.  He  penetrated  into  the 
forest  and  the  jungle,  living  among  savages,  and  for  the^time 
adopting  their  habits  of  life,  not  perhaps  dressing  in  skins, 
but  sleeping  in  their  huts  or  on  the  ground,  and  living  on 
their  food  and  such  game  as  he  could  get  with  his  gun.  He 
laughed  at  the  dangers.  He  was  not  afraid  of  savages  or  wild 
beasts  or  reptiles.  Indeed  he  lived  in  such  close  companion- 
ship with  the  animal  kingdom  that  he  got  to  be  in  very  inti- 
mate, not  to  say  amicable,  relations ;  and  to  hear  him  talk  of 
his  friends  of  the  forest,  one  would  think  he  would  almost  beg 
pardon  of  a  beast  that  he  was  obliged  to  shoot  and  stuff  in 
the  interest  of  science.  He  complained  only  that  he  could 
not  find  enough  of  them.  Snakes  he  "  doted  on,"  and  if  he 
espied  a  monster  coiling  round  a  tree,  or  hanging  from  the 
branches,  his  heart  leaped  up  as  one  who  had  found  great 
spoil,  for  he  thought  how  its  glistening  scales  would  shine  in 
his  collection.  I  was  much  entertained  by  his  adventures. 
He  left  us  one  morning  in  company  with  our  host  Carlo,  who 
is  a  famous  hunter,  on  an  expedition  after  the  rhinoceros — a 
royal  game,  which  abounds  in  the  woods  of  Java. 

The  beauty  of  this  island  is  not  confined  to  one  part  of 
it.  As  yet  we  have  seen  only  Western  Java,  and  but 
little  of  that.  But  there  is  Middle  Java  and  Eastern  Java. 
The  island  is  very  much  like  Cuba  in  shape— long  and  narrow, 
being  near  seven  hundred  miles  one  way,  and  less  than  a 
hundred  the  other.  Thus  it  is  a  great  breakwater  dividing 
the  Java  Sea  from  the  Indian  Ocean.  To  see  its  general 
15 


338  SAIL   ALONG   THE   COAST — VOLCANOES. 

configuration,  one  needs  to  sail  along  tlie  coast  to  get  a  distant 
view ;  and  then,  to  appreciate  the  peculiar  character  of  its 
scenery,  he  should  make  excursions  into  the  interior.  The 
Kesidents  of  Rhio  and  Palembang  called  to  see  us  and  made 
out  an  itinferaire ;  and  Mr.  Levyssohn  Norman,  the  Sec- 
retary General,  to  whom  I  brought  a  letter  from  a  Dutch 
officer  whom  we  met  at  JSTaples,  gave  me  letters  to  the  Resi- 
dents in  Middle  Java.  Thiis  furnished  we  returned  to 
Batavia,  and  took  the  steamer  for  Samarang  —  two  days'  sail 
to  the  eastward  along  the  northern  shore.  As  we  put  out 
to  sea  a  few  miles,  we  get  the  general  figure  of  the  island. 
The  great  feature  in  the  view  is  tlie  mountains,  a  few  miles 
from  the  coast,  some  of  which  are  ten  and  twelve  thousand 
feet  high,  which  make  the  background  of  the  picture,  whose 
peculiar  outline  is  derived  from  their  volcanic  character. 
Java  lies  in  what  may  be  called  a  volcano  belt,  which  is  just 
under  the  Eqi^ator,  and  reaches  not  only  through  Java,  but 
through  the  islands  of  Bali  and  Lombok  to  the  Moluccas. 
Instead  of  one  long  chain  of  equal  elevation  in  every  part,  or 
a  succession  of  smooth,  rounded  domes,  there  is  a  number  of 
sharp  peaks  thrown  up  by  internal  fires.  Thus  the  sky  line 
is  changing  every  league.  EurojDean  travellers  are  familiar 
witli  the  cone-like  shape  of  Vesuvius,  overlooking  the  Bay 
of  Naples.  Here  is  the  same  form,  repeated  nearly  forty 
times,  as  there  are  thirty-eight  volcanoes  in  the  island. 
Around  the  Bay  of  Samarang  are  nine  in  one  view  !  Some 
of  them  are  still  active,  and  from  time  to  time  burst  out  in 
fearful  eruptions  ;  but  just  now  they  are  not  in  an  angi-y 
mood,  but  smoking  peacefully,  only  a  faint  vapor,  like  a  fleecy 
cloud,  curling  up  against  the  sky.  All  who  have  made  the 
ascent  of  Vesuvius,  remember  that  its  cone  is  a  blackened 
mass  of  ashes  and  scoriae.  But  a  volcano  here  is  not  left 
to  be  such  a  picture  of  desolation.  Nature,  as  if  weary 
of  ruin,  and  wishing  to  hide  the  rents  she  has  made,  haa 
mantled  its  sides  with  the  richest  tropical  vegetation.     As 


SAMARANO.  339 

■we  stand  on  the  deck  of  our  ship,  and  look  landward,  the 
mountains  are  seen  to  be  covered  near  their  base  with  forests 
of  palms ;  while  along  their  breasts  float  belts  of  light  cloud, 
above  which  the  peaks  soar  into  the  blue  heavens. 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  island,  near  Souraboya,  there  is  a 
volcano  with  the  largest  crater  in  the  world,  except  that  of 
Kilaccea  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  It  is  three  miles  across,  and 
is  filled  with  a  sea  of  sand.  Descending  into  this  broad  space, 
and  wading  through  the  sand,  as  if  on  the  desert,  one  comes 
to  a  new  crater  in  the  centre,  a  thousand  feet  wide,  which  ia 
always  smoking.  This  the  natives  regard  with  superstitious 
di'ead,  as  a  sign  that  the  powers  below  are  in  a  state  of  anger ; 
and  once  a  year  they  go  in  crowds  to  the  mountain,  dragging 
a  bullock,  which  is  thrown  alive  into  the  crater,  with  other 
offerings,  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  demon,  who  is  raging 
and  thundering  below. 

Wednesday  morning  brought  us  to  Samarang,  the  chief 
port  of  Middle,  as  Batavia  is  of  Western,  and  Sourabaya  of 
Eastern  Java.  As  we  drew  up  to  the  shore,  the  quay  was 
lined  with  soldiers,  who  were  going  off  to  the  war  in  Acheen. 
The  regiments  intended  for  that  service  are  brought  first  to 
Java,  to  get  acclimated  before  they  are  exposed  to  what  would 
be  fatal  to  fresh  European  troops.  These  were  now  in  fine 
condition,  and  made  a  brave  sight,  drawn  up  in  rank,  with 
the  band  playing,  and  the  people  shouting  and  cheering. 
This  is  the  glittering  side  of  war.  But,  poor  fellows  !  they 
have  hard  times  before  them,  of  which  they  do  not  dream. 
It  is  not  the  enemy  they  need  to  fear,  but  the  hot  climate  and 
the  jungle  fever,  which  will  be  more  deadly  than  the  kris  of 
the  Malay.  These  soldiers  are  not  all  Dutch ;  some  are 
French.  On  our  return  to  Batavia,  the  steamer  carried  down 
another  detachment,  in  which  I  found  a  couple  of  French 
zouaves  (there  may  have  been  others),  one  of  whom  told  me 
he  had  been  in  the  surrender  at  Sedan,  and  the  other  had 
taken  part  in  the  siege  of  Paris.     After  their  terms  had 


340  THE   EMPEROR   OF    SOLO. 

expired  in  the  French  army,  they  enlisted  in  the  Dutch  ser- 
vice, and  embarked  for  the  other  side  of  the  world,  to  fight 
iu  a  cause  which  is  not  their  own.  I  fear  they  will  never  see 
France  again,  but  will  leave  their  bones  in  the  jungles  of 
Sumatra. 

But  our  thoughts  are  not  of  war,  but  of  peace,  as  we  ride 
through  the  long  Dutch  town,  so  picturesquely  situated  be- 
tween the  mountains  and  the  sea,  and  take  the  railway  for 
the  interior.  We  soon  leave  the  lowlands  of  the  coast,  and 
penetrate  the  forests,  and  wind  among  the  hills.  Our  first 
stop  is  at  Solo,  which  is  an  Impei-ial  residence.  It  is  a  curious 
relic  of  the  old  native  governments  of  Java,  that  though  the 
Dutch  are  complete  masters,  there  are  still  left  in  the  island 
an  Emperor  and  a  Sultan,  who  are  allowed  to  retain  their 
lofty  titles,  surrounded  with  an  Imperial  etiquette.  The 
Emperor  of  Solo  lives  in  his  "  Kraton,"  which  is  what  the 
Seraglio  is  among  the  Turks,  a  large  enclosure  in  which  is 
the  palace.  He  has  a  guard  of  a  few  hundred  men,  who 
gratify  his  vanity,  and  enable  him  to  spend  his  money  in 
keeping  a  number  of  idle  retainers ;  but  there  is  a  Dutch 
Resident  close  at  hand,  without  whose  permission  he  cannot 
leave  the  district,  and  hardly  his  own  grounds;  while  in  the 
very  centre  of  the  town  is  a  fort,  with  guns  mounted,  pointing 
towards  his  palace,  which  it  could  soon  blow  about  his  ears. 
Thus  "  protected,"  he  is  little  better  than  a  State  prisoner. 
But  he  keeps  his  title  "  during  good  behavior,"  and  once  a 
year  turns  out  in  grand  state,  to  make  an  ofiioial  visit  to  the 
Resident,  who  receives  him  with  great  distinction ;  and  having 
thus  "  marched  up  the  hill,"  he  "  marches  down  again."  We 
had  a  letter  to  the  Resident,  and  hoped  to  pay  our  respects 
to  his  Majesty,  but  learned  that  it  would  require  several  days 
to  arrange  an  audience.  It  is  a  part  of  the  Court  dignity 
which  surrounds  such  a  potentate,  that  he  should  not  be  easily 
accessible,  and  we  should  be  sorry  to  disturb  the  harmless 
illusion. 


THE    SULTAN   OF   JOOKJA.  341 

But  if  we  did  not  see  the  "  lion "  of  Solo,  we  saw  the 
tigers,  which  were  perhaps  quite  as  well  worth  seeing.  The 
Emperor,  amid  the  diversions  with  which  he  occupies  his 
royal  mind,  likes  to  entertain  his  military  and  oflBcial  visitors 
with  something  better  than  a  Spanish  bull-fight,  namely,  a 
tiger-fight  with  a  bull  or  a  buffalo,  or  with  men,  for  which  he 
has  a  number  of  trained  native  spearmen.  For  these  com- 
bats his  hunters  trap  tigers  in  the  mountains  ;  and  in  a  build- 
ing made  of  heavy  timbers  fitted  close  together,  with  only 
space  between  for  light  and  air,  were  half  a  dozen  of  them  in 
reserve.  They  were  magnificent  beasts ;  not  whelped  in  a 
cage  and  half  subdued  by  long  captivity,  like  the  sleek  crea- 
tures of  our  menageries  and  zoological  gardens  ;  but  the  real 
kings  of  the  forest,  caught  when  full  grown  (some  but  a  few 
weeks  before),  and  who  roared  as  in  their  native  wilds.  It 
was  terrific  to  see  the  glare  of  their  eyes,  and  to  hear  the 
mutterings  of  their  rage.  One  could  not  look  at  them,  even 
through  their  strong  bars,  without  a  shudder.  A  gentleman 
of  Java  told  me  that  he  had  once  caught  in  the  mountains  a 
couple  of  tigers  in  a  pit,  but  that  as  he  approached  it,  their 
roaring  was  so  terrific,  as  they  bounded  against  the  sides  of 
the  pit,  that  it  required  all  his  courage  to  master  a  feeling  of 
indescribable  terror. 

Adjoining  the  dominion  of  Solo  is  that  of  Jookja,  where, 
instead  of  an  Emperor,  is  a  Sultan,  not  quite  so  great  a  po- 
tentate as  the  former,  but  who  has  his  chateau  and  his  mili- 
tary guard,  and  goes  through  the  same  performance  of  play- 
ing the  king.  The  Dutch  Resident  has  a  very  handsome 
palace,  with  lofty  halls,  where  on  state  occasions  he  i-eceives 
the  Sultan  with  becoming  dignity — a  mark  of  deference  made 
all  the  more  touching  by  the  guns  of  the  fort,  which,  from 
the  centre  of  the  town,  keep  a  friendly  watch  for  the  least 
sign  of  rebellion. 

This  part  of  Middle  Java  is  very  rich  in  sugar  planta- 
tions.     One    manufactory    which  we  visited    was   said   to 


342  A    DKIVE    SIX-IN-HAND. 

yield  a  profit  of  $400,000  a  year.  N"or  is  this  the  product 
of  slave  labor,  like  the  sugar  of  Cuba.  Yet  it  is  not  alto- 
gether free  labor.  There  is  a  peculiar  system  in  Java  by 
which  the  government,  which  is  the  owner  of  the  land,  in 
renting  an  estate  to  a  planter,  rents  those  who  live  on  it  with 
the  estate.  It  guarantees  him  sufiicient  labor  to  work  his 
plantation.  The  people  are  obliged  to  labor.  This  is  exacted 
partly  as  a  due  to  the  government,  amounting  to  one  or  two 
days  in  the  week.  For  the  rest  of  the  time  they  are  paid 
small  wages.  But  they  cannot  leave  their  employer  at  will. 
There  is  no  such  absolute  freedom  as  that  which  is  said  to 
have  ruined  Jamaica,  where  the  negro  may  throw  down  his 
tools  and  quit  work  at  the  very  moment  when  the  planter  is 
saving  his  crop.  The  government  compels  him  to  labor,  but 
it  also  compels  his  master  to  pay  him.  The  system  works 
well  in  Java.  Laborers  are  kept  busy,  the  lands  are  cul- 
tivated, and  the  production  is  enormous — not  only  mak- 
ing the  planters  rich,  but  yielding  a  large  revenue  to  Holland. 
At  Jookja  the  railroad  ends.  Further  excursions  into 
the  country  must  be  by  a  private  carriage.  Some  thirty 
miles  distant  is  an  ancient  ruin,  which  is  in  Java  what  the 
Great  Pyramid  is  in  Egypt,  with  which  it  is  often  compared. 
To  reach  this,  we  ordered  a  carriage  for  the  next  morning. 
Probably  the  landlord  thought  he  had  a  Milord  Anglais  for 
his  guest,  who  must  make  his  progress  through  the  island 
with  royal  magnificence  ;  for,  when  we  rose  very  early  for  our 
ride,  we  found  in  front  of  the  door  a  huge  carriage  with  six 
horses  !  The  horses  of  Java  are  small,  but  full  of  spirit,  like 
the  Canadian  ponies.  On  the  box  was  a  fat  coachman,  who 
outweighed  both  of  us  inside.  Behind  us  stood  two  fellows 
of  a  lighter  build,  whose  high  ofiice  it  was  to  urge  our  gal- 
lant steeds  by  voice  and  lash  to  their  utmost  speed.  They 
were  dressed  in  striped  jackets,  like  cii-cus-riders,  and  were 
as  agile  as  cats.  Whenever  the  mighty  chariot  lagged  a 
little,  they  leaped  to  the  ground,  and  running  forward  with 


FINE   BOADS. — IIOW   THET    WEEK   BUILT.  343 

extraordinary  swiftness,  shouted  and  lashed  the  horses  tUl, 
with  their  goadirigs  and  their  cries,  the  beasts,  driven  to 
madness,  reared  and  plunged  and  raced  forward  so  wildly, 
that  we  almost  expected  to  be  dashed  in  pieces.  Such  is  the 
price  of  glory  !  What  grandeur  was  this  !  When  we  were 
in  Egy})t,  riding  about  the  streets  of  Cairo  with  two  "  syces  " 
(servants  dressed  in  white,  who  run  before  a  carriage  to  clear 
the  way),  I  felt  like  Joseph  riding  in  Pharaoh's  chariot.  But 
now  I  felt  as  if  I  were  Phai-aoh  himself. 

Our  route  was  through  long  avenues  of  trees,  of  palms 
and  bamboos.  The  roads,  as  everywhere  in  Java,  are  excel- 
lent, smooth  as  a  floor,  solidly  built,  and  well  kept.  To  con- 
struct such  roads,  and  keep  them  in  repair,  must  be  a  work 
of  great  difficulty,  as  in  the  rainy  season  the  floods  come  in 
such  force  as  would  sweep  away  any  but  those  which  ai*e 
firmly  bedded.  Tliese  roads  are  said  to  be  owing  to  a  famous 
Dutch  governor,  Mai-shal  Daendels,  who  ruled  here  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century.  According  to  tradition  he  was 
a  man  of  tremendous  will,  which  he  enforced  with  arbitrary 
and  despotic  authority.  He  laid  out  a  system  of  highways, 
and  assigned  to  certain  native  officei's  each  his  portion  to 
build.  Knowing  that  things  moved  slowly  iji  these  Eastern 
countries,  and  that  the  uiticers  in  charge  might  tiy  to  make 
excuses  for  delay,  he  added  a  gentle  admonition  that  he 
should  hold  each  man  responsible ;  and  by  way  of  quickening 
their  sense  of  duty,  he  erected  gibbets  at  convenient  intervals 
along  the  road,  and  if  an  ofiicial  failed  to  "  come  to  time," 
he  simply  had  him  executed.  The  spectacle  of  a  few  of  these 
native  gentry  hanging  by  the  road.side  had  such  an  enlivening 
efiect  on  the  Javanese  imagination,  that  the  roads  were  built 
as  if  by  magic.  Perhaps  the  system  might  be  applied  with 
excellent  efiect  to  "  contractors "  in  other  parts  of  the 
world  ! 

But  on  the  best  roads  this  speed  could  not  be  kept  up  for 
a  long  time.     The  stages  were  short,  the  relays  being  but  five 


344  THE   GAEDEN   OF   JAVA. 

miles  apart.  Every  three-quarters  of  an  hour  we  changed 
horses.  The  stations  were  built  over  the  roads,  something 
in  the  style  of  an  old-fashioned  turnpike  gate;  so  that  we 
drove  under  the  shelter,  and  the  horses,  dripping  with  foam, 
were  slipped  out  of  the  carriage,  and  left  to  cool  under  the 
shade  of  the  trees,  or  rolled  over  in  the  dust,  delighted  to  be 
free. 

As  we  advanced,  our  route  wound  among  the  hills.  On 
our  right  was  Merapg,  one  of  the  great  mountains  of  Java — 
his  top  smoking  gently,  while  rice-fields  came  up  to  his  foot. 
This  middle  part  of  the  island  is  called  the  Garden  of  Java, 
and  it  might  be  called  one  of  the  gardens  of  the  world. 
Nowhere  in  Europe,  not  even  in  Lombardy  nor  in  England, 
have  I  seen  a  richer  country.  Every  foot  of  ground  is  in  a 
high  state  of  cultivation.  Not  only  are  the  plains  and  val- 
leys covered  with  rice-fields,  but  the  hills  are  terraced  to  admit 
of  carrying  the  culture  far  up  their  sides.  Here,  as  in  West- 
em  Java,  it  was  the  time  of  the  harvest,  and  the  fields  were 
filled  with  joyous  reapers.  To  this  perfect  tilling  of  the  earth 
it  is  due  that  this  island  is  one  of  the  most  populous  portions 
of  the  globe.  The  country  literally  swarms  with  inhabitants, 
as  a  hive  swarms  with  bees  ;  but  so  few  are  their  wants,  that 
everybody  seems  to  "live  and  be  merry."  We  passed 
through  a  number  of  villages  which,  though  the  dwellings 
were  of  the  rudest,  yet  had  a  pretty  look,  as  they  were  em- 
bowered in  foliage  of  palms  and  bamboos.  As  the  country 
grew  more  hilly,  oiir  progress  was  not  so  swift.  Sometimes 
we  went  down  a  steep  bank  to  cross  a  river  on  a  boat,  and 
then  it  was  not  an  easy  task  to  draw  up  the  carriage  on  the 
opposite  bank,  and  we  had  to  call  on  Caesar  for  help.  Al- 
most a  whole  village  would  turn  out.  At  one  time  I  counted 
eighteen  men  pushing  and  tugging  at  our  wheels,  of  course 
with  no  eye  to  the  small  coin  that  was  scattered  among 
them  when  the  top  of  the  bank  was  reached.  So  great  waa 
the  load  of  dignity  we  bore  ! 


THE   TEMPLE   OF   BOKOBODO.  345 

At  noon  we  reached  the  object  of  oiir  journey  in  the 
famous  ruins  of  Borobodo.  Sir  Stamford  KaflSes  says 
that  all  the  labor  expended  on  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt  sinks 
into  insignificance  when  compared  with  that  bestowed  on 
the  grand  architectural  remains  of  Java;  but  after  seeing 
this,  the  greatest  on  the  island,  his  estimate  seems  to  me 
very  extravagant.  This  is  much  smaller  than  the  Great  Py- 
ramid, in  the  space  of  groiind  which  it  covers,  and  lower  in 
height,  and  altogether  less  imposing.  But  without  making 
comparisons,  it  is  certainly  a  wonderful  pile.  It  is  a  pyra- 
mid in  shape,  some  four  hundred  feet  square,  and  nine  stories 
high,  being  ascended  by  a  series  of  gigantic  steps  or  terraces. 
That  it  was  built  for  Buddhist  worship  is  evident  from  the 
figures  of  Buddha  which  cover  its  sides.  It  is  the  monu- 
ment not  only  of  an  ancient  religion,  but  of  an  extinct  civ- 
ilization, of  a  mighty  empire  once  throned  on  this  island, 
which  has  left  remains  like  those  of  ancient  Egypt.  What  a 
population  and  what  power  must  have  been  here  ages  ago,  to 
rear  such  a  structure  !  One  can  imagine  the  people  gathered 
at  great  festivals  in  numbei-s  such  as  now  assemble  at  pil- 
grimages in  India.  Doubtless  tliis  hill  of  stone  was  often 
black  with  human  beings  (for  as  many  could  stand  on  its 
sides  as  could  be  gathered  in  the  Coliseum  at  Rome),  while 
on  the  open  plain  in  front,  stretching  to  a  mountain  in  the 
background,  a  nation  might  have  encamped,  like  the  Israel- 
ites before  Sinai,  to  receive  the  law.  But  the  temple  is  in 
ruins,  and  there  is  no  gathering  of  the  people  for  worship 
any  more.  The  religion  of  the  island  is  changed.  Buddh- 
ism has  passed  away,  and  Islam  has  taken  its  place,  to  pass 
away  in  its  turn.  It  was  Good  Friday,  in  1876,  that  I  stood 
on  the  top  of  this  pyramid,  and  thought  of  Him  who  on  this 
day  sufiered  for  mankind,  and  whose  religion  is  yet  to  pos- 
sess the  world.  When  it  has  conquered  Asia,  it  will  cross 
the  sea,  and  take  this  beautiful  island,  from  which  it  may 
pass  ou  to  the  mainland  of  the  continent  of  Australia. 
15* 


346  PKErrT  towns  m  the  interior. 

In  sucli  musings  we  lingered  for  hours,  wandering  about 
tlie  ruins  and  enjoying  the  landscape,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  we  have  seen  in  all  our  travels — the  wide 
sweep  in  the  foreground  reminding  us  of  the  view  from 
Stirling  Castle  in  Scotland. 

But  the  carriage  is  waiting,  and  once  more  the  driver 
cracks  his  whip,  his  horses  prance,  and  away  we  fly  along 
the  roads,  through  the  valleys,  and  over  the  hills.  At  even- 
ing we  reached  Magellang,  the  centre  of  one  of  the  districts 
into  which  Java  is  divided,  and  a  town  of  some  importance. 
It  is  a  curious  geographical  fact  that  it  stands  exactly  in  the 
centre  of  the  island.  One  spot  is  called  the  Navel  of  Java. 
The  Javanese  think  a  certain  hill  is  the  head  of  a  great  nail, 
which  is  driven  into  the  earth  and  holds  the  island  firm  in 
its  place.  If  this  be  so,  it  is  strange  that  it  does  not  keep  it 
more  quiet.  For  if  we  may  use  the  language  of  the  brokers, 
we  might  say  with  truth  that  in  Java  "  real  estate  is  active," 
since  it  is  well  shaken  up  once  or  twice  a  year  with  earth- 
quakes, and  is  all  the  time  smouldering  with  volcanoes. 

But  however  agitated  underground,  the  country  is  very 
beautiful  above  it.  Here  as  in  all  the  places  where  the 
Dutch  "  most  do  congregate,"  there  is  a  mixture  of  European 
civilization  with  the  easy  and  luxurious  ways  of  the  East. 
Some  of  the  villages  are  as  pretty  as  any  in  our  own  Kew 
England,  and  reminded  us  of  those  in  the  Connecticut  val- 
ley, being  laid  out  with  a  broad  open  square  or  common  in 
the  centre,  which  is  shaded  by  magnificent  trees,  and  sur- 
rounded by  beautiful  residences,  whose  broad  verandas  and 
open  doors  give  a  most  inviting  picture  of  domestic  comfort 
and  generous  hospitality.  There  is  a  club-house  for  the 
officers,  and  music  by  the  military  band.  The  Residents 
always  live  very  handsomely.  They  are  the  great  men  in 
every  district.  Each  one  has  a  spacious  residence,  with  a 
military  guard,  and  a  salary  of  six  or  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year,  with  extras  for  the  expense  of  entertaining  or  of 


THE  REGENT  OF  MAGELLANG.  347 

travelling,  and  a  liberal  pension  at  the  close  of  twenty  years 
of  service. 

Magellang  is  marked  with  a  white  stone  in  our  memories 
of  Java,  as  it  was  the  scene  of  a  novel  experience.  When 
we  drove  into  the  town,  we  found  the  hotel  full,  which  obliged 
us  to  fall  back  upon  our  letter  to  the  Resident.  He  was 
absent,  but  his  secretary  at  once  took  us  in  hand,  and  re- 
quested the  "  Regent  "  (a  native  prince  who  holds  oflSce 
under  the  Dutch  government,  and  has  special  oversight  of 
the  native  population)  to  entertain  us.  He  responded  in 
the  most  courteous  manner,  so  that,  instead  of  being  lodged 
at  a  hotel,  we  were  received  as  guests  in  a  princely  residence. 
His  "  palace "  was  in  the  Eastern  style,  of  but  one  story 
(as  are  most  of  the  buildings  in  Java,  on  account  of  earth- 
quakes), but  spread  out  over  a  large  surface,  with  rows  of 
columns  supporting  its  ample  roof,  presenting  in  front  in  its 
open  colonnade  what  might  be  regarded  as  a  spacious  hall  of 
audience ;  and  furnishing  in  its  deep  recesses  a  cool  retreat 
from  the  heat  of  the  tropical  sun.  A  native  guard  pacing 
before  the  door  indicated  the  oflScial  character  of  the  occu- 
pant. The  Regent  received  us  with  dignity,  but  with  great 
cordiality.  He  was  attired  in  the  rich  costume  of  the  East. 
His  feet  were  without  stockings,  but  encased  in  richly  em- 
broidered sandals.  He  could  speak  no  English,  and  but  a 
few  words  of  French — only  Malay,  Dutch,  and  Javanese. 
But  he  sent  for  a  gentleman  to  dine,  who  was  of  Spanish 
descent,  and  who,  though  a  native  of  Java,  and  had  never 
been  out  of  it,  yet  spoke  both  French  and  English,  and  thus 
we  were  able  to  converse. 

The  Regent  had  a  wife,  and  after  a  time  she  entered  the 
hall,  and  welcomed  my  niece  with  a  cordiality  almost  like 
that  of  two  school-girls  meeting.  She  was  simply  dressed, 
in  the  lightest  costume,  with  bare  feet,  but  in  gold-embroid- 
ered slippers.  Everything  in  her  attire  was  very  plain,' 
ex-jept  that  her  ears  were  hung  vdth  diamonds  that  fairly 


348  AND    HIS   TWO    WIVES. 

dazzled  us  with  their  brilliancy.  She  began  talking  with 
great  volubility,  and  seemed  not  quite  to  comprehend  wliy  it 
was  that  we  did  not  understand  Malay  or  Javanese.  How- 
ever, with  the  help  of  our  interpreter,  we  got  along,  and  were 
soon  in  the  most  confidential  relations.  She  had  very  vague 
ideas  of  the  part  of  the  world  we  came  from.  "We  tried  to 
make  her  understand  that  the  world  was  round,  and  that  we 
lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  We  asked  why  the 
Regent  did  not  go  abroad  to  see  the  world  ?  But  she  signi- 
fied with  a  peculiar  gesture,  as  if  counting  with  her  fingers, 
that  it  took  a  great  deal  of  money.  She  asked  "  if  we  were 
rich,"  to  which  we  replied  modestly  that  we  had  enough  for 
our  wants.  As  she  talked  of  family  matters,  she  informed  us 
that  her  lord  had  another  wife.  Of  this  she  spoke  without 
the  least  reserve.  It  was  quite  natural  that  he  should  desire 
this.  She  (his  first  wife)  had  been  married  to  him  over 
twenty  years,  and  was  getting  a  little  passee,  and  he  needed 
a  young  face  to  make  the  house  bright  and  gay.  Presently 
the  second  wife  entered,  and  we  were  presented  to  her.  She 
was  very  young — I  should  think  not  twenty  years  of  age. 
Evidently  the  elder  occupied  the  first  place  in  the  household, 
and  the  younger  took  the  second.  They  seemed  to  stand  in 
a  kind  of  sisterly  relation  to  each  other,  without  the  slightest 
feeling  of  jealousy  be  ween  them.  Both  were  very  pretty, 
after  the  Malayan  type — that  is,  with  mild,  soft  eyes,  and 
skins,  not  black,  like  Africans,  but  of  a  rich  brown  color. 
They  would  have  been  even  beautiful  if  they  had  had  also, 
what  the  Africans  so  often  have,  dazzling  white  teeth ;  but 
this  is  prevented  by  the  constant  chewing  of  the  betel-nut  and 
tobacco. 

At  half-past  eight  o'clock  we  went  to  dinner.     C had 

the  honor  of  sitting  between  the  two  wives,  and  enjoyed  the 
courtesy  of  both,  who  prepared  fruit  for  her,  and  by  many  little 
attentions,  such  as  are  understood  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
showed  that  they  belonged  to  the  true  sisterhood  of  woman. 


A    HAPPY  DOMESTIC   SCENE.  349 

The  position  of  woman  in  Java  is  somewhat  peculiar.  The 
people  are  Mohammedans,  and  yet  the  women  are  not  secluded, 
nor  do  they  veil  their  faces  ;  they  receive  strangers  in  their 
houses  and  at  their  tables;  thus  they  have  much  greater  free- 
dom than  their  sisters  in  Turkey  or  Egypt.  The  Regent, 
being  a  Mussulman,  did  not  take  wine,  though  he  provided 
it  for  his  guests.  After  the  dinner,  coffee  was  served,  of  a 
rich,  delicious  flavor — for  Java  is  the  land  of  coffee — followed 
by  the  inevitable  cigar.  I  do  not  smoke,  but  could  not  allow 
my  refusal  to  interfere  with  the  habits  of  those  whose  guest 
I  was,  and  could  biit  admire  the  ineffable  satisfaction  with 
which  the  Regent  and  his  friend  puffed  the  fragrant  weed. 
While  they  were  thus  wreathed  in  clouds,  and  floating  in  a 
perfect  Nirvana  of  material  enjoyment,  the  gentler  sex  were 
not  forgotten.  The  two  wives  took  their  pleasure  in  their 
own  fashion.  A  small  box,  like  a  tea-caddy,  was  brought  on 
the  table,  full  of  little  silver  cups  and  cases,  containing  leaves 
of  the  betel-nut,  and  spices,  cassia  and  gambler,  a  little  lime, 
and  a  cup  of  the  finest  tobacco.  Out  of  these  they  prepared 
a  delicate  morsel  for  their  lips.  With  her  own  dainty  fingers, 
each  rolled  up  a  leaf  of  the  betel-nut,  enclosing  in  it  several 
kinds  of  spices,  and  filling  it  with  a  good  pinch  of  tobacco, 
which,  our  Spanish  friend  explained,  was  not  so  much  for  the 
taste,  as  to  make  the  morsel  plump  and  round,  large  enough 
to  fill  the  mouth  (or,  as  a  wine-taster  would  say  of  his  favorite 
madeira  or  port,  to  give  it  sufficient  body) ;  and  also,  he 
added,  it  was  to  clean  the  teeth,  and  to  give  an  aromatic  fra- 
grance to  the  breath  !  I  repeat,  as  exactly  as  I  can  recall  them, 
his  very  words. 

Whether  the  precious  compound  had  all  these  virtues,  cer- 
tainly these  courtly  dames  took  it  with  infinite  relish,  and 
rolled  it  as  a  sweet  morsel  under  their  tongues,  and  looked 
on  their  lord  with  no  jealousy  of  his  enjoyment  of  his  cigar. 

Here  was  a  picture  of  conjugal  felicity.  The  family  was 
evidently  an  affectionate  and  happy  one.     Th«  Regent  loved 


350  RELATION   OF   MASTER   AND    SERVANT. 

both  liis  wives,  and  they  sat  side  by  side  without  envy  or  iin- 
charitableness,  happy  in  the  sunshine  of  his  face,  and  chewed 
their  betel-nut  with  a  composure,  an  aspect  of  tranquil  enjoy- 
ment, -which  many  in  more  civilized  countries  may  admire, 
but  cannot  equal. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  family  came  together,  I  remarked 
that  the  first  wife,  who  then  apparently  saw  her  husband  for 
the  first  time,  came  forward,  and  bending  low,  kissed  his 
jewelled  hand;  and  soon  after  the  second  wife  entei-ed,  and 
kissed  the  first  wife's  hand,  thus  observing  that  natural  order 
of  precedence  which  is  so  beautiful  in  every  well-regulated 
family. 

I  observed  also  with  curious  interest  the  relations  of  master 
and  servant  in  this  Oriental  household.  The  divisions  are 
very  marked.  The  Regent,  for  example,  is  regarded  by  his 
retainers  with  an  awe  as  if  he  were  a  sacred  person.  No  one 
approaches  him  standing.  The  theory  is,  that  no  inferior 
must  ever  be  in  a  position  or  attitude  where  his  head  is 
higher  than  his  master's.  If  the  Regent  but  looks  at  a  man, 
he  drops  as  if  shot  with  a  bullet.  If  a  servant  wishes  to 
communicate  with  his  master,  he  falls,  not  on  his  knees,  but 
on  his  haunches,  and  in  this  posttire  shuffles  forward  till  he 
comes  behind  his  chair,  and  meekly  whispei'S  a  word  into  his 
ear.  He  receives  his  orders,  and  then  shuffles  back  again. 
In  one  way,  the  division  of  ranks  in  Java  is  more  marked 
even  than  that  of  castes  in  India.  The  Javanese  language, 
which  is  a  bi-anch  of  the  Malay,  has  three  separate  foi-ms 
of  speech — one,  that  used  by  a  superior  addressing  an  infe- 
rior; second,  that  of  an  inferior  addressing  a  superior;  and 
a  third,  that  used  between  equals.  Such  divisions  would 
seem  to  cut  off"  all  relations  between  those  of  different  rank. 
And  yet,  with  all  this  stooping  and  bowing,  abject  as  it  seems 
to  us,  the  relation  of  the  master  to  his  dependants  is  rather 
patriarchal ;  and  to  these  same  servants  the  Regent  will 
speak,  not  only  kindly,  but  familiarly,  all  the  more  so  as  the 


SECOND  day's  dkive.  851 

lines  are  so  drawn  that  there  is  no  danger  that  they  should 
ever  presume  on  undue  familiarity. 

In  the  morning  the  Regent  took  me  out  for  a  ramble.  We 
strolled  along  under  the  trees,  admiring  the  beauty  of  the 
coimtry.  After  half  an  hour's  walk,  suddenly,  like  an  appa- 
rition, an  open  phaeton  stood  beside  us,  with  two  beautiful 
ponies,  into  which  the  Regent  invited  me  to  step,  and  taking 
his  seat  by  my  side,  drove  me  about  the  town.  We  returned 
for  breakfast,  and  then  he  sent  for  his  musicians  to  give  us  a 
performance,  who,  beating  on  drums  and  other  native  instru- 
ments, executed  a  plaintive  kind  of  music.  With  such  at- 
tentions did  this  Javanese  prince  and  his  wives  (none  of  whom 
we  had  ever  seen  till  a  few  hours  before,  and  on  wliom  we 
had  no  claim  whatever)  win  our  hearts  by  theii*  kindness,  so 
that,  when  the  carriage  came  round  to  the  door,  we  were  sorry 
to  depart.  The  Regent  pressed  us  to  stay  a  month,  or  as 
long  as  we  would.  We  could  not  accept  a  longer  hospitality; 
but  we  shall  remember  that  which  we  had.  We  keep  his 
photograph,  with  others  which  we  like  to  look  upon  ;  and  if 
these  words  can  reach  the  other  side  of  the  world,  they  will 
tell  him  that  his  American  friends  have  not  forgotten,  and 
will  not  forget,  the  kind  manner  in  which  they  were  enter- 
tained in  the  island  of  Java  by  the  Regent  of  Magellang. 

The  drive  of  to-day  was  hardly  less  interesting  than  that  of 
yesterday,  although  our  pride  had  a  fall.  It  was  a  great 
come-down,  after  riding  with  six  horses  to  be  reduced  to 
four  !  But  the  mortification  was  relieved  by  adding  now  and 
then,  at  the  steep  places,  a  pair  of  buffaloes.  As  we  were 
still  in  the  hOl  country,  we  were  all  day  among  the  coffee 
plantations,  which  thrive  best  at  a  considerable  elevation 
above  the  sea.  Other  products  of  the  island  flourished 
around  us  in  rich  abundance  ;  the  spices — aloes  and  cassia, 
and  nutmeg  and  pepper.  And  there  was  our  old  friend,  the 
peanut.  They  were  gathering  perhaps  the  veiy  nuts  that 
were  yet  to  ornament  the  stands  of  the  apple-women  of  New 


352  THE   GEEAT  FOETKESS   OF   AMBAEKAWA. 

York,  and  to  be  a  temptation  to  bootblacks  and  newsboys. 
Amid  sixch  fields  and  forests,  over  mountain  roads,  and  lis- 
tening to  the  roar  of  mountain  streams,  we  came  down  to 
Ambarrawa,  a  place  of  note  in  Java,  as  containing  the 
strongest  fortress  in  the  island.  It  is  planted  here  right  in 
the  heart  of  Middle  Java,  where,  half  a  cenfury  ago,  was  a 
formidable  insurrection,  which  was  quelled  only  after  an  ob- 
stinate contest,  lasting  five  years — from  1825  to  1830.  Am- 
barrawa is  connected  by  railroad  with  Samarang.  It  is  easy 
to  see  that  both  the  railroads  which  start  from  that  point, 
and  which  have  thus  a  base  on  the  sea  (the  one  leading  to 
Solo  and  Jookja,  the  residences  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
Sultan,  who  might  make  troiAle,  and  the  other  to  the  great 
fortress  of  Ambarrawa),  have  been  constructed  with  a  mili- 
tary as  well  as  a  commercial  purpose. 

So  the  Dutch  have  had  their  wars  in  Java,  as  the  English 
have  had  in  India  ;  but  having  conquered,  it  miist  be  said 
that  on  the  whole  they  have  ruled  wisely  and  well.  The  best 
proof  of  this  is  the  perfect  tranquillity  that  reigns  everywhere, 
and  that  with  no  great  display  of  armed  force.  What  a  con- 
trast in  this  respect  between  the  two  most  important  islands 
in  the  East  and  West  Indies — Java  and  Cuba  !  They  are 
about  equal  in  the  number  of  square  miles.  Both  have  been 
settled  by  Europeans  for  nearly  three  centuries,  and  yet  to- 
day Cuba  has  less  than  two  millions  of  inhabitants,  and  is  in 
a  chronic  state  of  insurrection;  while  Java  has  over  fifteen 
millions  (or  eight  times  as  many),  and  is  as  quiet  as  Holland 
itself.  The  whole  story  is  told  in  one  word — the  one  is 
Dutch  rule,  and  the  other  is  Spanish  rule. 

We  spent  our  Easter  in  Samarang — a  day  which  is  not 
forgotten  in  this  pai't  of  the  world,  although  Sunday  is  not 
observed  after  the  manner  of  Scotland  or  New  England,  but 
rather  of  Continental  Europe,  with  bands  playing  on  the 
public  square,  and  all  the  European  world  abroad  keeping 
holiday.     From  Samarang,  another  two  days'  sail  along  the 


RETURN   TO   BATAVIA.  353 

same  northern  coast,  "with  the  grand  outline  of  mountains  on 
the  horizon,  brought  us  back  to  Batavia. 

Batavia  was  not  the  same  to  us  on  the  second  visit  as  on 
the  first ;  or  rather  it  was  a  great  deal  more,  for  now  we 
knew  the  place,  the  streets  were  familiar,  and  we  felt  at 
home — the  more  so  as  a  Scotch  gentleman,  to  whom  we 
brought  a  letter  from  Singapore,  Mr.  James  Greig  (of  the 
old  house  of  Syme,  Pitcairn  &  Co.,  so  well  known  in  tlie 
East),  took  us  in  charge,  and  carried  us  off  to  one  of  those 
large  mansions  which  we  had  so  much  admired  on  our  former 
visit,  set  far  back  from  the  street,  and  surrounded  with  trees ; 
and  constructed  especially  for  this  climate,  with  spacious 
rooms,  wide  hall,  high  ceilings,  and  broad  veranda,  and  all 
the  devices  for  mitigating  the  heat  of  tlie  tropics.  !More 
than  all,  this  hospitable  mansion  was  lighted  up  by  the  sweet- 
est feminine  presence  in  one  who,  though  of  an  old  Dutch 
family  well  known  in  Java,  had  been  educated  in  Paris,  and 
spoke  English  and  French,  as  well  as  Dutch  and  Malay,  and 
who  gave  us  such  a  welcome  as  made  us  feel  that  we  were 
not  strangers.  Not  only  did  these  friends  open  their  house 
to  us,  but  devoted  themselves  till  our  departure  in  going 
about  with  us,  and  making  our  visit  pleasant.  I  do  not 
know  whether  to  call  this  Scotch  or  Dutch  hospitality,  but 
it  was  certainly  of  the  most  delightful  kind. 

As  we  had  three  or  four  days  before  the  sailing  of  the 
French  steamer  for  Singapore,  our  friends  planned  an  excur- 
sion into  the  mountains  of  Western  Java,  for  which  we  re- 
turned to  Buitenzorg,  and  engaged  a  couple  of  cahars, 
carriages  as  light  as  if  made  of  wicker-work,  with  the 
small  Javanese  ponies,  and  thus  mounted,  began  to  climb  the 
hills.  Our  route  was  over  the  great  post-road,  which  runs 
through  the  island  to  Souraboya — a  road  which  must  have 
been  constructed  with  immense  labor,  as  it  passes  over  high 
mountains,  but  which  is  as  solidly  built  and  as  well  kept  as 
Napoleon's  great  road  over  the  Simplon  Pass  of  the  Aip& 


354:  EXCURSION    INTO    THK   FOUNTAINS. 

Indeed  it  is  very  much  tlie  same,  liaving  a  rocky  bed  for  its 
foundation,  with  a  macadamized  surface,  over  which  the  car- 
riage rolls  smoothly.  But  it  does  not  climb  so  steadily  up- 
ward as  the  Simplon  or  the  Mont  Cenis.  The  ascent  is  not 
one  long  pull,  like  the  ascent  of  the  Alps,  but  by  a  succession 
of  hills,  one  beyond  another,  with  many  a  deep  valley  between, 
so  that  we  go  alternately  up  hill  and  down  dale.  The  hills  are 
very  steep,  so  that  the  post-carriage,  which  is  as  heavy  and 
lumbering  as  a  French  diligence,  has  to  be  drawn  up  by 
buffaloes.  Thus  it  climbs  slowly  height  after  height,  and 
when  it  has  reached  the  summit,  goes  thundering  down  the 
mountain,  and  rolls  majestically  along  the  road.  But  our 
light  carriages  suited  us  much  better  than  these  ponder- 
ous vehicles ;  and  as  our  little  ponies  trotted  swiftly  along, 
we  were  in  a  very  gay  mood,  making  the  woods  ring  with 
our  merry  talk  and  glee.  Sometimes  we  got  out  to  sti-etch 
our  limbs  with  a  good  walk  up  the  hills,  turning  as  we  reached 
the  top  to  take  in  the  landscape  behind  us,  which  spread  out 
broader  and  broader,  as  we  I'ose  higher  and  higher.  At 
every  stage  the  view  increased  in  extent  and  in  majesty,  till 
the  whole  island, 

*'  From  the  centre  all  round  to  the  sea," 

was  piled  with  mountains,  which  here,  as  in  Middle  Java, 
showed  their  volcanic  origin  by  their  forms,  now  rising  in 
solitary  cones,  and  now  lying  on  the  horizon  in  successive 
ridges,  like  mighty  billows  tossed  up  on  a  sea  of  fire,  that  in 
cooling  had  cracked  in  all  fantastic  shapes,  which,  after  being 
worn  down  by  the  storms  of  thousands  of  years,  were  mantled 
thick  with  the  verdure  of  forests.  As  in  England  the  ivy  creeps 
over  old  walls,  covering  ruined  castles  and  towers  with  its  per- 
petual green,  so  here  the  luxuriance  of  the  tropics  has  over- 
spread the  ruin  wrought  by  destroying  elements.  The  effect 
is  a  mingled  wildness  and  beauty  in  these  mountain  land- 
scapes, which  often  reminded  us  of  Switzerland  and  the  Tyrol. 


BINDANGLATA.  366 

The  enjoyment  of  this  ride  was  increased  by  the  character 
of  the  day,  which  was  not  all  sunshine,  but  one  of  perpetual 
change.  Clouds  swept  over  the  sky,  casting  shadows  on  the 
sides  of  the  mountains  and  into  the  deep  valleys.  Some- 
times the  higher  summits  were  wi-apped  so  as  to  be  hidden 
from  sight,  and  the  rain  fell  heavily;  then  as  the  storm 
drifted  away,  and  the  sun  burst  through  the  parted  clouds, 
the  glorious  heights  shone  in  the  sudden  light  like  the  De- 
lectable Moxintains. 

The  object  of  our  journey  was  a  mountain  retreat  four 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea — as  high  as  the  Righi 
Kulm,  but  in  no  other  respect  like  that  mountain-top,  which 
from  its  height  overlooks  so  many  Swiss  lakes  and  cantons. 
It  is  rather  like  an  Alpine  valley,  surrounded  by  mountains. 
This  is  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Dutch  from  Batavia.  Hei-e 
the  Governor-General  has  a  little  box,  to  which  he  retires, 
from  his  grander  residence  at  Buitenzorg,  and  here  many 
sick  and  wounded  officers  find  a  cool  retreat  and  I'ecover 
strength  for  fresh  campaigns.  The  place  bears  the  musical 
name  of  Sindanglaya,  which  one  would  think  might  have 
been  given  with  some  reference  to  the  music  of  murmuring 
winds  and  waters  which  fill  the  air.  The  valley  is  full  of 
sti-eams,  of  brooks  and  springs,  that  run  among  the  hills. 
Water,  water  everywhere  !  The  rain  pattering  on  the  roof 
all  night  long  carried  me  back  to  the  days  of  my  childhood, 
when  I  slept  in  a  little  cot  under  the  eaves,  and  that  sound 
was  music  to  my  ear.  The  Scotch  mist  that  envelopes  the 
mountains  might  make  the  traveller  fancy  himself  in  the 
Highlands  ;  and  so  he  might,  as  he  seeks  out  the  little 
"  tarns  "  that  have  settled  in  the  craters  of  extinct  volcanoes, 
where  not  only  wild  deer  break  through  the  tangled  wood  of 
the  leafy  solitudes,  but  the  tiger  and  the  rhinoceros  come  to 
drink.  Streams  run  down  the  mountain-sides,  and  springs 
ooze  from  mossy  banks  by  the  roadside,  and  temper  the  air 
with  their  dripping  coolness.     What  a  place  to  rest !     How 


356  NEARNESS   TO    AUSTRALIA. 

this  perfect  quiet  must  bring  repose  to  the  brave  fellows  from 
Acheen,  and  how  sweet  must  sound  this  music  of  mountain 
streams  to  ears  accustomed  to  the  rude  alarms  of  war  ! 

That  we  were  in  a  new  quarter  of  the  world — far  away, 
not  only  from  America  and  Europe,  but  even  from  Asia — 
we  were  reminded  by  the  line  of  telegraph  which  kept  us 
company  over  the  mountains,  and  which  here  crosses  the 
island  on  its  way  to  Australia !  It  goes  down  the  coast  to 
Bangaewangi,  where  it  dives  into  the  sea  only  to  come  up  on 
the  mainland  of  the  great  Southern  Continent.  Indeed  we 
were  strongly  advised  to  extend  our  journey  around  the  world 
to  Australia,  which  we  could  have  reached  in  much  less  time 
than  it  had  taken  to  come  from  Calcutta  to  Singapoi-e.  But 
we  were  more  interested  to  visit  old  countries  and  old  nations 
than  to  set  foot  on  a  virgin  continent,  and  to  see  colonies  and 
cities,  which,  with  all  their  growth,  could  only  be  a  smaller 
edition  of  what  we  have  so  abundantly  in  the  new  States  of 
America. 

We  were  now  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Southern  Ocean, 
the  greatest  of  all  the  oceans  that  wrap  their  watery  mantle 
around  the  globe.  From  the  top  of  the  Ged6,  a  mountain 
which  rose  above  us,  one  may  look  off  upon  an  ocean  broader 
than  the  Pacific — a  sea  without  a  shore — whose  waters  roll 
in  an  unbroken  sweep  to  the  Antarctic  Pole. 

From  all  these  seas  and  shores,  and  woods  and  waters,  we 
now  turned  away,  and  with  renewed  delight  in  the  varied 
landscapes,  rode  back  over  the  mountains  to  Buitenzorg,  and 
came  down  by  rail  to  Batavia. 

Before  I  depart  from  this  pleasant  land  of  Java,  I  must 
say  a  word  about  the  Dutch  and  their  position  in  South- 
eastern Asia.  The  Dutch  have  had  possession  of  Java  over 
250  years — since  1623 — without  interruption,  except  from 
1811  to  1816,  when  Napoleon  had  taken  Holland;  and  as 
England  was  using  all  her  forces  on  land  and  sea  to  cripple 
the  French  empire  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  she  sent  a 


DUTCH    POSSESSIONS   IN   THE   EAST.  357 

fleet  against  Java.  It  yielded  almost  without  opposition; 
indeed  many  of  the  Dutch  regarded  the  surrender  as  simply 
placing  the  island  under  British  protection,  which  saved  it 
from  the  French.  For  five  years  it  had  an  English  Governor, 
Sir  Stamford  Raffles,  who  has  written  a  large  work  on  Java. 
After  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  England  restored  Java  to  the 
Dutch,  but  kept  Ceylon,  Malacca,  and  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  Thus  the  Dutch  have  lost  some  of  their  possessions 
in  the  East,  and  yet  Holland  is  to-day  the  second  colonial 
power  in  the  world,  being  inferior  only  to  England.  The 
Dutch  flag  in  the  East  waves  not  only  over  Java,  but  over 
almost  the  whole  of  the  Malayan  Archipelago,  which,  with  the 
intervening  waters,  covers  a  portion  of  the  earth's  surface 
larger  than  all  Europe. 

There  are  some  peculiar  physical  features  in  this  part  of 
the  world.  The  Malayan  Archipelago  lies  midway  between 
Asia  and  Australia,  belonging  to  neither,  and  yet  belonging 
to  both.  It  is  a  very  curious  fact,  brought  out  by  Wallace, 
whose  great  work  on  "  The  Malayan  Archipelago  "  is  alto- 
gether the  best  on  the  subject,  that  this  gi'oup  of  islands  is  in 
itself  divided  by  a  very  narrow  space  between  the  two  conti- 
nents, which  it  at  once  separates  and  unites.  Each  has  its 
own  distinct  fauna  and  flora.  The  narrow  Strait  of  Bali,  only 
fifteen  miles  wide,  which  separates  the  two  small  islands  of 
Bali  and  Lombok,  separates  two  distinct  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms,  which  are  as  unlike  as  are  those  of  the  United 
States  and  Brazil.  One  group  belongs  to  Asia,  the  other  to 
Australia.  Sumatra  is  full  of  tigers ;  in  Borneo  there  is  not 
one.  Australia  has  no  camivora — no  beasts  that  prey  on 
flesh — but  chiefly  marsupials,  such  as  kangaroos. 

There  are  a  good  many  residents  in  the  East  who  think 
Holland,  in  the  management  of  her  dependencies,  has  shown 
a  better  political  economy  than  England  has  shown  in  India. 
An  English  writer  (a  Mr.  Money),  in  a  volume  entitled 
"  How  to  Govern  a  Colony,"  has  brought  some  features  of 


358  FUTURE   OF   SOUTH-EASTERN   ASIA. 

tlie  Dutch  policy  to  the  notice  of  his  countrymen,  I  will 
mention  but  one  as  an  illustration.  Half  a  century  ago  Java 
was  very  much  run  down.  A  native  rebellion  which  lasted 
five  years  had  paralyzed  the  industry  of  the  country.  To 
reanimate  it-,  a  couple  of  years  after  the  rebellion  had  been 
subdued,  in  1832,  the  home  government  began  a  very  liberal 
system  of  stimulating  production  by  making  advances  to 
planters,  and  guaranteeing  them  labor  to  cultivate  their 
estates.  The  effect  was  marvellous.  By  that  wise  system  of 
helping  those  who  had  not  means  to  help  themselves,  a  new 
life  was  at  once  infused  into  all  parts  of  the  island.  Out  of 
that  has  grown  the  enormous  production  of  coffee,  sugar,  and 
tobacco.  Now  Java  not  only  pays  all  the  expenses  of  her 
own  government,  (which  India  does  not  do,  at  least  without 
contracting  very  heavy  loans,)  but  builds  her  own  railroads, 
and  other  roads  and  bridges,  and  supplies  the  drain  of  the 
Acheen  war,  and  remits  every  year  millions  to  the  Hague  to 
build  railroads  in  Holland. 

Is  it  too  much  to  believe  that  there  is  a  great  future  in 
store  for  South  Eastern  Asia  ?  We  talk  about  the  future  of 
America.  But  ours  is  not  the  only  continent  that  offers 
vast  tinoccupied  wastes  to  the  habitation  of  man.  Be- 
sides Australia,  there  are  these  great  islands  nearer  to  Asia, 
which,  from  the  overflow  of  India  and  China,  may  yet  have 
a  population  that  shall  cultivate  their  waste  places.  I  found 
in  Burmah  a  great  number  of  Bengalees  and  Madrasees,  who 
had  crossed  the  Bay  of  Bengal  to  seek  a  home  in  Farther  In- 
dia ;  while  the  Chinese,  who  form  the  population  of  Singa- 
pore, had  crept  ixp  the  coast.  They  are  here  in  Java,  in 
every  seaport  and  in  every  large  town  in  the  interior,  and 
there  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  there  will  be  a  yet 
greater  overflow  of  population  in  this  direction.  Sumatra 
and  Borneo  are  not  yet  inhabited  and  cultivated  like  Java, 
but  in  their  great  extent  they  oflfer  a  magnificent  seat  for 
future  kingdoms  or  empires,  which,  Asiatic  in  population, 


NATTTKE   IN   THE   TEOPICS.  359 

may  be  governed  by  European  laws,  and  moulded  by  Euro 
pean  civilization. 

One  thing  more  before  we  cross  the  Equator — a  word 
about  nature  and  life  in  the  tropics.  I  came  to  Java  partly 
to  see  the  tropical  vegetation,  of  which  we  saw  but  little  in 
India,  as  we  were  thei*e  in  winter,  which  is  at  once  the  cold 
and  the  dry  season,  when  vegetation  withers,  and  the  vast 
plains  are  desolate  and  dreary.  Nature  then  holds  herself 
in  reserve,  waiting  till  the  rains  come,  when  the  earth  will 
bloom  again.  But  as  I  could  not  wait  for  the  change  of  sea- 
sons, I  must  needs  pass  on  to  a  land  where  the  change  had 
already  come.  We  marked  the  transition  as  we  came  down 
the  Bay  of  Bengal.  There  were  signs  of  changing  seasons 
and  a  changing  nature.  We  were  getting  into  the  rainy 
belt.  In  the  Straits  of  Malacca  the  air  was  hot  and  thun- 
derous, and  we  had  frequent  storms;  the  heavens  were  full 
of  rain,  and  the  earth  was  fresh  with  the  joy  of  a  newly- 
opened  spring.  But  still  we  kept  on  till  we  crossed  the 
Equator.  Here  in  Java  the  rainy  season  was  just  over.  It 
ends  with  the  last  of  March,  and  we  arrived  at  the  beginning 
of  April.  For  months  the  windows  of  heaven  had  been 
opened,  the  rains  descended,  and  the  floods  came ;  and  lo  I 
the  land  was  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  Here  we  had  at 
last  the  tropical  vegetation  in  its  fullest  glory.  Nothing  cau 
exceed  the  prodigality  and  luxuriance  of  nature  when  a 
vertical  sun  beats  down  on  fields  and  forests  and  jungles  that 
have  been  di-enched  for  months  in  rain.  Vegetation  of  every 
kind  springs  up,  as  in  the  temperate  zone  it  appears  only 
when  forced  in  heated  conservatories  (as  in  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire's  gardens  at  Chatsworth),  and  the  land  waves 
with  these  luxuriant  growths.  In  the  forest  creeping  plants 
wind  round  the  tall  trunks,  and  vines  hang  in  festoons  from 
tree  to  tree. 

But  while  the  tropical  forest  presents  such  a  wild  luxu- 
riance of  growth,  I  find  no  single  trees  of  such  stature  as  I 


360  NATURE  ovp:epowee8  man. 

have  seen  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Except  an  occasional 
broad-spreading  banyan,  I  have  seen  nothing  which,  standing 
alone,  equals  in  its  solitary  majesty  the  English  oak  or  the 
American  elm.  Perhaps  there  is  a  difference  in  this  respect 
between  countries  in  the  same  latitude  in  the  Eastern  and 
Western  hemispheres.  An  English  gentleman  whom  we 
found  here  in  charge  of  a  great  sugar  plantation,  who  had 
spent  some  years  in  Rio  Janeiro,  told  me  tliat  the  trees  of 
Java  did  not  compare  in  majesty  with  those  of  Brazil.  Nor 
is  this  superiority  confined  to  South  America.  Probably 
no  trees  now  standing  on  the  earth  equal  the  Big  Trees  of 
California.  And  besides  these  there  are  millions  of  lofty 
pines  on  the  sides  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which  I  have  seen 
nowhere  equalled  unless  it  be  in  the  mighty  cedars  which 
line  the  great  Tokaido  of  Japan.  On  the  whole,  I  am  a 
little  inclined  to  boast  that  trees  attain  their  greatest  height 
and  majesty  in  our  Western  hemisphere. 

But  the  glory  of  the  tropics  is  in  the  universal  life  of 
nature,  spreading  through  all  her  realms,  stirring  even  under 
ground,  and  causing  to  spring  forth  new  forms  of  vegetation, 
which  coming  up,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  darkness  of  the 
grave,  seek  the  sun  and  air,  whereby  all  things  live. 

Of  course  one  cannot  but  consider  what  effect  this  marvel- 
lous production  must  have  upon  man.  Too  often  it  overpow- 
ers him,  and  makes  him  its  slave,  since  he  cannot  be  its 
master.  This  is  the  terror  of  the  Tropics,  as  of  the  Polar 
regions,  that  nature  is  too  strong  for  man  to  subdue  her. 
What  can  he  do — poor,  puny  creature — against  its  terrible 
forces ;  against  the  heat  of  a  vertical  sun,  that  while  it 
quickens  the  earth,  often  blasts  the  strength  of  man,  subdu- 
ing his  energy,  if  not  destroying  his  life  ?  What  can  man  do 
in  the  Arctic  circle  against  the  cold  that  locks  up  whole  con- 
tinents in  ice?  Much  as  he  boasts  of  his  strength  and  of  his 
all- conquering  will,  he  is  but  a  child  in  the  lap  of  nature, 
tossed  about  by  material  forces  as  a  leaf  is  blown  by  the 


EFFECT'  OF   THE   CLIMATE   UPON   THE   DUTCH.         361 

wind.  The  best  region  for  human  development  and  energy- 
is  the  temperate  zone,  where  nature  stimulates,  but  does  not 
overpower,  the  energies  of  man,  where  the  winter's  cold 
does  not  benumb  him  and  make  him  sink  into  torpor,  but 
only  pricks  him  to  exertion  and  makes  him  quicken  his 
st€ps. 

The  effect  of  this  fervid  climate  shows  itself  not  only  upon 
natives,  but  upon  Europeans.  It  induces  a  languor  and  in- 
disposition to  effort.  It  has  two  of  the  hardest  and  toughest 
races  in  the  woi-ld  to  work  upon,  in  the  English  in  India  and 
the  Dutch  in  Java,  and  yet  it  has  its  effect  even  upon  them, 
and  would  have  a  still  greater  were  it  not  that  this  foreign 
element  is  constantly  changing,  coming  and  going,  whereby 
there  is  all  the  time  a  fresh  infusion  of  European  life.  Here 
in  Java  the  Dutch  have  been  longer  settled  than  the  English 
in  India ;  they  more  often  remain  in  the  island,  and  the  effect 
of  course  is  more  marked  from  generation  to  generation.  The 
Dutchman  is  a  placid,  easy-going  creature,  even  in  his  native 
Holland,  except  when  roused  by  some  great  crisis,  like  a 
Spanish  invasion,  and  then  he  fights  with  a  coui'age  which  has 
given  him  a  proud  name  in  history.  But  ordinarQy  he  is  of 
a  calm  and  even  temper,  and  likes  to  sit  quietly  and  survey 
his  broad  acres,  and  smoke  his  pipe  in  blissful  content  with 
himself  and  all  the  world  beside.  When  he  removes  from 
Holland  to  the  other  side  of  the  world,  he  has  not  changed 
his  nature ;  he  is  a  Dutchman  still,  only  with  his  natural  love 
of  ease  increased  by  life  in  the  tropics.  It  is  amusing  to  see 
how  readily  his  Dutch  nature  falls  in  with  the  easy  ways  of 
this  Eastern  world. 

If  I  were  to  analyze  existence,  or  material  enjoyment  in  this 
part  of  the  world,  I  should  say  that  the  two  great  elements 
in  one's  life,  or  at  least  in  his  comfort,  are  sleep  and  smoke. 
They  smoke  in  Holland,  and  they  have  a  better  right  to 
smoke  in  Java ;  for  here  they  but  follow  the  course  of  nature. 
Why  should  not  man  smoke,  when  even  the  earth  itself  re- 
16 


362  SMOKE   AND   SLEEP. 

spires  through  smoke  and  flame  ?  The  mountains  smoke,  and 
why  not  the  Dutch  ?  Only  there  is  this  difference :  the 
volcanoes  sometimes  have  a  period  of  rest,  but  the  Dutch 
never.  Morning,  noon,  and  night,  before  breakfast  and  after 
dinner,  smoke,  smoke,  smoke !  It  seems  to  be  a  Dutchman's 
ideal  of  happiness.  I  have  been  told  of  some  who  dropped 
to  sleep  with  the  cigar  in  their  lips,  and  of  one  who  required 
his  servants  to  put  his  pipe  between  his  teeth  while  he  was 
yet  sleeping,  that  he  might  wake  up  with  the  right  taste  in 
his  mouth.  It  seemed  to  me  that  this  must  work  injury  to 
their  health,  but  they  think  not.  Perhaps  there  is  something 
in  the  phlegmatic  Dutch  temperament  that  can  stand  this 
better  than  the  more  mercurial  and  excitable  English  or 
American. 

And  then  how  they  do  sleep  !  Sleep  is  an  institution  in 
Java,  and  indeed  everywhere  in  the  tropics.  The  deep  still- 
ness of  the  tropical  noon  seems  to  prescribe  rest,  for  then 
nature  itself  sinks  into  repose.  Scarcely  a  leaf  moves  in  the 
forest — the  birds  cease  their  musical  notes,  and  seek  for  rest 
under  the  shade  of  motionless  palms.  The  sleep  of  the  Dutch 
is  like  this  stillness  of  nature.  It  is  profound  and  absolute 
repose.  For  certain  hours  of  the  day  no  man  is  visible.  I 
had  a  letter  to  the  Resident  of  Solo,  and  went  to  call  on  him 
at  two  o'clock.  He  lived  in  a  grand  Government  House,  or 
palace ;  but  an  air  of  somnolence  pervaded  the  jjlace,  as  if  it 
were  the  Castle  of  Indolence.  The  very  servant  was  asleep 
on  the  marble  pavement,  where  it  was  his  duty  to  keep  watch ; 
and  when  I  sent  in  my  letter,  he  came  back  making  a  very 
significant  gesture,  leaning  over  his  head  to  signify  that  his 
master  was  asleej).  At  five  o'clock  I  was  more  fortunate,  but 
even  then  he  was  dressed  with  a  lightness  of  costume  more 
suitable  for  one  who  was  about  to  enter  his  bath  than  to  give 
audience. 

There  is  a  still  gi-aver  question  for  the  moralist  to  consider 
— the  effect  of  these  same  physical  influences  upon  human 


MONOTONY  OF  PERPETUAL  SUMMER.        363 

character.  No  observer  of  men  in  different  parts  of  the 
world  can  fail  to  see  that  different  races  have  been  modified 
by  climate,  not  only  in  color  and  features,  but  in  tempera- 
ment, in  disposition,  and  in  character.  A  hot  climate  makes 
hot  blood.  Burning  passions  do  but  reflect  the  torrid,  sun. 
What  the  Spaniard  is  in  Europe,  the  Malay  is  in  Asia. 
There  is  a  deep  philosophy  in  the  question  of  Byron : 

"  Know  ye  the  land  where  the  cypress  and  myrtle 

Are  emblems  of  deeds  that  are  done  in  their  clime, 
Where  the  rage  of  the  vulture,  the  love  of  the  turtle, 
Now  melt  into  sorrow,  now  madden  to  crime  ?  " 

But  I  must  not  wander  into  deep  philosophy.  1  only  say 
that  great  as  is  the  charm  of  life  in  the  tropics,  it  is  not 
without  alloy.  In  landing  in  Java  it  seemed  as  if  we  had 
touched  the  shores  of  some  enchanted  island,  as  if  we  had 
found  the  Garden  of  Paradise  lying  far  off  in  these  Southern 
seas.  We  had  come  to  the  land  of  perpetual  spring  and  per- 
petual summer,  where  nature  is  •  always  in  bloom,  and  frost 
and  snow  and  hail  have  fled  away  to  the  bleak  and  wintry 
North.  But  as  we  are  obliged  to  go  back  to  that  Noi-th,  we 
wish  to  be  reconciled  to  it.  We  find  that  one  may  have  too 
much  even  of  Paradise.  There  is  a  monotony  in  perpetual 
summer.  The  only  change  of  seasons  here  is  from  the  dry 
season  to  the  rainy  season  ;  and  the  only  difference  between 
these,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  is  that  in  the  dry  season  it 
rains,  and  in  the  rainy  season  it  pours.  We  have  been  here 
in  the  dry  season,  and  yet  we  have  had  frequent  showers, 
with  occasional  thunderstorms.  If  we  should  stay  here  a 
year,  we  should  weary  of  this  unrelieved  monotony  of  sun 
and  rain.  We  should  long  for  some  more  marked  change  of 
seasons,  for  the  autumn  leaves  and  the  winter  winds,  and 
the  gradual  coming  on  of  spring,  and  all  those  insensible  gra- 
dations of  nature  which  make  the  glory  of  the  full  round 
year. 


364  THE   LOSS   OF   TWILIGHT. 

And  what  a  loss  should  we  find  in  the  absence  of  twilight. 
Java,  being  almost  under  the  Equator,  the  days  and  nights 
are  almost  equal  throughout  the  year ;  there  are  no  short 
days  and  no  long  days.  Day  and  night  come  on  suddenly — 
not  instantly,  but  in  a  few  minutes  the  night  breaks  into  the 
full  glare  of  day,  and  the  day  as  qviickly  darkens  into  night. 
How  we  should  miss  the  long  summer  twilight,  which  in  our 
Northern  latitudes  lingers  so  softly  and  tenderly  over  the 
quiet  earth. 

Remembering  these  things,  we  are  reconciled  to  our  lot  in 
living  in  the  temperate  zone,  and  turn  away  even  from  the 
soft  and  easy  life  of  the  tropics,  to  find  a  keener  delight  in 
our  rugged  clime,  and  to  welcome  even  the  snow-drifts  and 
the  short  winter  days,  since  they  bring  the  long  winter  even- 
ings, and  the  roaring  winter  fires  ! 

We  leave  Java,  therefore,  not  so  miich  with  regret  that  we 
can  no  longer  sit  under  the  palm  groves,  and  indulge  in  the 
soft  and  easy  life  of  the  tropics,  as  that  we  part  from  friends. 
Our  last  night  in  Batavia  they  took  us  to  a  representation 
given  by  amateurs  at  the  English  Club,  where  it  was  very 
pleasant  to  see  so  many  "English  faces  in  this  distant  part 
of  the  world,  and  to  hear  our  own  mother  tongue.  The  next 
morning  they  rode  down  with  us  to  the  quay,  and  came  off" 
to  the  steamer,  and  did  not  leave  us  till  it  wa.s  ready  to 
move  ;  and  it  was  with  a  real  sadness  that  we  saw  them  over 
the  ship's  side,  and  watched  their  fluttering  signals  as  they 
sailed  back  to  the  shore.  These  partings  are  the  sore  pain  of 
travel.  But  the  friendships  remain,  and  are  delightful  in 
memory.  A  pleasure  past  is  a  pleasure  still.  Even  now  it 
gives  us  a  warm  feeling  at  the  heart  to  think  of  those  kind 
friends  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

UP  THE  CHIKA  SEAS — HONG  KONG  AND  CANTON. 

In  Singapore,  as  in  Batavia,  the  lines  fell  to  us  in  pleasant 
places.  An  English  merchant,  Mi*.  James  Graham,  carried 
us  off  to  his  liospitable  bungalow  outside  the  town,  where  we 
passed  four  days.  It  stood  on  a  hill,  from  which  we  looked 
off  on  one  side  to  the  harbor,  where  were  riding  the  ships  of 
all  nations,  and  on  the  other  to  an  undulating  country,  with 
here  and  there  an  English  residence  embowered  in  trees. 
In  this  delightful  retreat  our  hosts  made  us  feel  perfectly  at 
home.  We  talked  of  England  and  America;  we  romped 
•with  the  children ;  we  played  croquet  on  the  lawn ;  we  re- 
ceived calls  from  the  neighbors,  and  went  out  to  "  take  tea" 
in  the  good  old-fashioned  way.  We  attended  service,  the 
Sunday  before  going  to  Java,  in  the  Cathedral,  and  on  our 
return,  in  the  Scotch  church  ;  so  that  around  us,  even  at  this 
extremity  of  Asia,  were  the  faces  and  voices,  the  happy  do- 
mestic life,  and  the  religious  worship,  of  dear  old  England. 

But  just  as  we  began  to  settle  into  this  quiet  life,  the 
steamer  was  signalled  from  Ceylon  which  was  to  take  us  to 
China,  and  we  had  to  part  from  our  new  friends. 

It  had  been  in  my  plan  to  go  from  here  to  Siam.  It  is  but 
three  days'  sail  from  Singapore  up  the  Gulf  to  Bangkok  ;  but 
it  is  not  so  easy  to  get  on  from  there.  Could  we  have  been 
sure  of  a  speedy  passage  to  Saigon,  to  connect  with  the  French 
steamer,  we  should  not  have  hesitated ;  but  without  this,  we 
might  be  detained  for  a  week  or  two,  or  be  obliged  to  come 
back  to  Singapore.     Thus  uncei-tain,  we  felt  that  it  was  safer 


366  HONG   KONG. 

to  take  the  steamer  direct  for  Hong  Kong,  though  it  was  a 
sore  disappointment  to  pass  across  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of 
Siam,  knowing  that  we  were  so  near  the  Land  of  the  White 
Elephant,  and  leave  it  un visited. 

The  China  seas  have  a  very  bad  name  among  sailors  and 
travellers,  as  they  are  often  swept  by  teriible  cyclones ;  but 
we  crossed  at  a  favorable  season,  and  escaped.  The  heat  was 
great,  and  passengers  sat  about  on  deck  in  their  easy  cane 
chairs,  as  on  the  Red  Sea ;  but  beyond  that,  we  experienced 
not  so  much  discomfort  as  on  the  Mediterranean.  On  the 
sixth  morning  we  saw  in  the  distance  an  island,  which,  as 
we  drew  nearer,  rose  uj)  so  steeply  and  so  high  that  it  ap- 
peared almost  like  a  mountain.  This  was  the  Peak  of  Hong 
Kong — a  signal-station  from  which  men,  with  their  glasses, 
can  look  far  out  to  sea,  and  as  soon  as  one  of  the  great  steam- 
ers is  descried  on  the  horizon,  a  flag  is  run  up  and  a  gun 
fired  to  convey  the  news  to  the  city  below.  Coming  up  be- 
hind the  island,  we  swept  around  its  point,  and  saw  before  us 
a  large  town,  very  picturesquely  situated  on  the  side  of  a  hill, 
rising  street  above  street,  and  overlooking  a  wide  bay  shut 
in  by  hills,  so  that  it  is  sheltered  from  the  storms  that 
vex  the  China  seas.  The  harbor  was  full  of  foreign  ships, 
among  which  were  many  ships  of  war  (as  this  is  the  ren- 
dezvous of  the  British  fleet  in  these  waters),  which  were 
firing  salutes ;  among  those  flying  the  flags  of  all  nations  was 
one  modest  representative  of  our  country,  of  which  we  did 
not  need  to  be  ashamed — the  Kearsarge.  We  afterwards 
went  on  board  of  her,  and  saw  and  stroked  with  aflection, 
mingled  with  pride,  the  big  gun  that  sunk  the  Alabama. 

Hong  Kong,  like  Singapore,  is  an  English  colony,  but  with 
a  Chinese  population.  You  can  hardly  set  foot  on  shore  be- 
fore you  are  snapped  up  by  a  couple  of  lusty  fellows,  with 
straw  hats  as  large  as  umbrellas  on  their  heads,  and  who, 
though  in  bare  feet,  stand  up  as  straight  as  grenadiers,  and 
as  soon  as  you  take  youx  seat  in  a  chair,  lift  the  bamboo 


CROSSING   TO   CANTON.  307 

poles  to  their  shoulders,  and  walk  off  with  you  on  the  double- 
quick. 

No  covintry  which  we  see  for  the  first  time  is  exactly  as  we 
supposed  it  to  be.  Somehow  I  had  thought  of  China  as  a 
vast  plain  like  India ;  and  behold !  the  first  view  reveals  a 
wild,  mountainous  coast.  As  we  cUmb  Victoria  Peak  above 
Hong  Kong,  and  look  across  to  the  mainland,  we  see  only 
bari'en  hills — a  prospect  almost  as  desolate  as  that  of  the 
Arabian  shores  on  the  Red  Sea. 

But  what  wonders  lie  beyond  that  Great  Wall  of  moun- 
tains which  guards  this  part  of  the  coast  of  China !  One 
cannot  be  in  sight  of  such  a  country  without  an  eager  im- 
pulse to  be  in  it,  and  after  two  or  three  days  of  rest  we  set 
out  for  Canton,  which  is  only  eight  hours  distant.  Our 
boat  was  an  American  one,  with  an  American  captain,  who 
took  us  into  the  wheel-house,  and  pointed  out  every  spot  of 
interest  as  we  passed  through  tiie  islands  and  entered  the 
Canton  river.  Forty  miles  south  is  the  old  Portuguese  port 
of  Macao.  At  the  mouth  of  the  river  are  the  Bogue  Forts, 
which  played  such  a  part  in  the  English  war  of  1841,  but 
which  were  sadly  battered,  and  now  lie  dismantled  and  un- 
garrisoned.  Going  by  the  stately  Second  Bar  Pagoda,  we 
next  pass  Whampoa,  the  limit  to  which  foreign  vessels  could 
come  before  the  Treaty  Ports  were  opened.  As  we  ascend 
the  river,  it  is  crowded  with  junks — strange  craft,  high  at 
both  ends,  armed  with  old  rusty  cannon,  with  which  to  beat 
off  the  pirates  that  infest  these  seas,  and  ornamented  at  the 
bow  with  huge  round  eyes,  that  stand  out  as  if  from  the  head 
of  some  sea-monster,  some  terrible  dragon,  which  keeps 
watch  over  the  deep.  Amid  such  fantastic  barks,  with  their 
strange  crews,  we  steamed  up  to  Canton. 

At  the  landing,  a  son  of  Dr.  Happer,  the  American  mis- 
sionary, came  on  board  with  a  letter  from  his  father  inviting 
us  to  be  his  guests,  and  we  accordingly  took  a  native  boat, 
and  were  rowed  up  the  river.     Our  o&rsman  was  a  woman, 


368  CANTON. 

who,  besides  the  trifle  of  rowing  our  boat  up  the  stream,  had 
a  baby  strapped  on  her  back  !  Perhaps  the  weight  helped 
her  to  keep  her  balance  as  she  bent  to  the  oar.  But  it  was 
certainly  bringing  things  to  a  pretty  fine  point  when  human 
muscles  were  thus  economized.  This  boat,  well  called  in 
Chinese  a  tan-Tea  or  egg-house,  was  the  home  of  the  family. 
It  sheltered  under  its  little  bamboo  cover  eight  souls  (as  many 
as  Noah  had  in  the  Ark),  who  had  no  other  habitation. 
Here  they  ate  and  drank  and  slept ;  here  perhaps  children 
were  born  and  old  men  died.  In  Canton  it  is  estimated  that 
a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people  thus  live  in  boats,  lead- 
ing a  kind  of  amphibious  existence. 

Above  the  landing  is  the  island  of  Shameen,  a  mile  long, 
which  is  the  foreign  quarter,  where  are  the  Hongs,  or  Fac- 
tories, of  the  great  tea-merchants,  and  where  live  the  wealthy 
foreign  residents.  Rounding  this  island,  we  drew  up  to  the 
quay,  in  front  of  Dr.  Happer's  door,  where  we  found  that 
welcome  which  is  never  wanting  under  the  roof  of  an  Amer- 
ican missionary.  Dr.  Happer  has  lived  here  thirty -two  years, 
and  was  of  course  familiar  with  every  part  of  Canton,  and 
was  an  invaluable  guide  in  the  explorations  of  the  next  three 
or  four  days. 

When  we  were  in  Paris,  we  met  Dr.  Wells  Williams,  the 
well-known  missionary,  who  had  spent  over  forty  years  in 
China,  twelve  of  them  in  Peking,  of  which  he  said,  that 
apart  from  its  being  the  capital,  it  had  little  to  intei*est  a 
stranger — at  least  not  enough  to  repay  the  long  journey  to 
reach  it.  He  said  it  would  take  a  month  to  go  from  Shang- 
hai to  Tientsin,  and  then  cross  the  country  cramped  up  in 
carts  to  Peking,  and  visit  the  Great  Wall,  and  return  to 
Shanghai.  Canton  was  not  only  much  nearer,  but  far  more 
interesting,  and  the  best  representative  of  a  Chinese  city  in 
the  Empire. 

The  next  morning  we  began  our  excursions,  not  with 
horses  and  chariots,  but  with  coolies  and  chairs.     An  English 


EXCURSIONS   IN   THE   CITY.  369 

gentleman  and  his  wife,  who  had  come  with  us  from  Singa- 
pore, joined  us,  making,  with  a  son  of  Dr.  Happer  and  the 
guide,  a  party  of  six,  for  whom  eighteen  bearers  drew  up 
before  the  door,  forming  quite  a  procession  as  we  filed  through 
the  streets.  The  motion  was  not  unpleasant,  though  they 
swung  us  along  at  a  good  round  pace,  shouting  to  the  people 
to  get  out  of  the  way,  who  forthwith  parted  right  and  left, 
as  if  some  high  mandarin  were  coming.  The  streets  were  nar- 
row and  densely  crowded.  Through  such  a  mass  it  required 
no  small  effort  to  force  our  way,  which  was  effected  only  by 
our  bearers  keeping  up  a  constant  cry,  like  that  of  the  gon- 
doliers in  Venice,  when  turning  a  corner  in  the  canals — a 
signal  of  warning  to  any  approaching  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. I  could  but  admire  the  good-nature  of  the  people, 
who  yielded  so  readily.  If  we  were  thus  to  push  through  a 
crowd  in  New  York,  and  the  policemen  were  to  shout  to  the 
"  Bowery  boys  "  to  "  get  out  of  the  way,"  w^e  might  receive 
a  "  blessing "  in  reply  that  would  not  be  at  all  agreeable. 
But  the  Chinamen  took  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  turned 
aside  respectfully  to  give  us  a  passage,  only  staring  mildly 
with  their  almond  eyes,  to  see  what  great  personages  were 
these  that  came  along  looking  so  grand. 

Our  way  led  through  the  longest  street  of  the  city,  which 
bears  the  sounding  name  of  the  Street  of  Benevolence  and 
Love.  This  is  the  Broadway  of  Canton,  only  it  is  not  half 
as  wide  as  Broadway.  It  is  very  narrow,  like  some  of  the 
old  streets  of  Genoa,  and  paved,  like  them,  with  huge  slabs 
of  stone.  On  either  side  it  is  lined  with  shops,  into  which 
we  had  a  good  opportunity  to  look  as  we  brushed  past  them, 
for  they  stood  wide  open.  They  were  of  the  smallest  dimen- 
sions, most  of  them  consisting  of  a  single  room,  even  when 
hung  with  beautiful  embroideries.  There  may  be  little  re- 
cesses behind,  hidden  interiors  where  they  live,  though  ap- 
parently we  saw  the  whole  family.  In  many  shops  they  were 
taking  their  meals  in  full  sight  of  the  passers-by.  There  was 
16* 


870  NAMES   OF  THE   STREETS. 

no  variety  of  courses ;  a  bowl  of  rice  in  the  centre  of  the 
table  was  the  universal  dish  (for  rice  is  the  staff  of  life  in 
Asia,  as  bread  is  in  America),  garnished  perchance  with  some 
"  little  pickle,"  in  the  shape  of  a  bit  of  fish  and  soy,  to  serve 
as  a  sauce  piquante  to  stimulate  the  flagging  appetite.  But 
apparently  they  needed  no  appetizer,  for  they  plied  their 
chop-sticks  with  unfailing  assiduity. 

Our  first  day's  ride  was  probably  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and 
took  us  through  such  "  heavenly  streets  "  as  we  never  knew 
before,  and  did  not  expect  to  walk  in  till  we  entered  the 
gates  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  Besides  the  Street  of  Benevo- 
lence and  Love,  which  might  be  considered  the  great  high- 
way of  the  Celestial  City,  there  were  streets  which  bore  the 
enrapturing  names  of  "  Peace,"  "  Bright  Cloud,"  and  "  Lon- 
gevity ; "  of  "  Early-bestowed  Blessings  "  and  of  "  Everlasting 
Love ;  "  of  "  One  Hundred  Grandsons  "  and  (more  ambitious 
still)  of  "  One  Thousand  Grandsons ; "  of  "  Five  Happi- 
nesses" and  of  "Refreshing  Breezes;"  of  "Accumulated 
Blessings"  and  of  "Ninefold  Brightness."  There  was  a 
*' Dragon  street,"  and  others  devoted  to  "The  Ascending 
Dragon,"  "  The  Saluting  Dragon,"  and  "  The  Reposing 
Dragon ; "  while  other  titles  came  probably  a  little  nearer 
the  plain  fact,  such  as  "The  Market  of  Golden  Profits." 
All  the  shops  have  little  shrines  near  the  door  dedicated  to 
Tsai  /Shin,  or  the  God  of  Wealth,  to  whom  the  shopkeepers 
offer  their  prayers  every  day.  I  think  I  have  heard  of 
prayers  offered  to  that  divinity  in  other  countries,  and  no 
one  could  doubt  that  these  prayers  at  least  were  fervent  and 
sincere. 

But  names  do  not  always  designate  realities,  and  though 
we  passed  through  the  street  of  a  "  Thousand  Beatitudes  "  and 
that  of  a  "  Thousandfold  Peace,"  we  saw  sorrow  and  misery 
enough  before  the  day  was  done. 

One  gets  an  idea  of  the  extent  of  a  city  not  only  by  tra- 
versing its  streets,  but  by  ascending  some  high  point  in  the 


GENERAL   VIEW   OF   CANTON.  371 

vicinity  that  overlooks  it.  The  best  point  for  such  a  bird's- 
eye  view  is  the  Five-storied  Pagoda,  from  which  the  eye 
ranges  over  a  distance  of  many  miles,  including  the  city  and 
the  country  around  to  the  mountains  in  the  distance,  with 
the  broad  river  in  front,  and  the  suburb  on  the  other  side. 
The  appearance  of  Canton  is  very  different  from  that  of  a 
European  city.  It  has  no  architectural  magnificence.  There 
are  some  fine  houses  of  the  rich  merchants,  built  of  brick, 
with  spacious  rooms  and  courts ;  but  there  are  no  great 
palaces  towering  over  the  city — no  domes  like  St.  Paul's  in 
London,  or  St.  Peter's  in  Rome,  nor  even  like  the  domes 
and  minarets  of  Constantinople.  The  most  imposing  struc- 
ture in  view  is  the  new  Homan  Catholic  Cathedral.  Here 
and  ther-e  a  solitary  pagoda  rises  above  the  vast  sea  of  hu- 
man dwellings,  which  are  generally  of  but  one,  seldom  two 
stories  in  height,  and  built  very  much  alike ;  for  there  is 
the  same  monotony  in  the  Chinese  houses  as  in  the  figures 
and  costumes  of  the  Chinese  themselves.  Nor  is  this  level 
surface  relieved  by  any  variety  of  color.  The  tiled  roofs, 
with  their  dead  color,  but  incx-ease  the  sombre  impression  of 
the  vast  dull  plain ;  yet  beneath  such  a  pall  is  a  great  city, 
intersected  by  hundreds  of  streets,  and  occupied  by  a  mil- 
lion of  human  beings. 

The  first  impression  of  a  Chinese  city  is  of  its  myriad, 
multitudinous  Hfe.  There  are  populous  cities  in  Europe, 
and  crowded  streets ;  but  here  human  beings  swarm,  like 
birds  in  the  air  or  fishes  in  the  sea.  The  wonder  is  how 
they  all  live ;  but  that  is  a  mystery  which  I  could  not  solve 
in  London  any  more  than  here.  There  is  one  street  a  mile 
long,  which  has  in  it  nothing  but  shoemakers.  The  people 
amused  us  very  much  by  their  strange  appearance  and  dress, 
in  both  which  China  differs  wholly  from  the  Orient.  A 
Chinaman  is  not  at  all  like  a  Turk.  He  does  not  wear  a 
turban,  nor  even  a  long,  flowing  beard.  His  head  is  shaved 
above  and  below — face,  chin,  and  skull — and  instead  of  the 


372  STREET   SCENES. 

patriarchal  beard  before  him,  he  carries  only  a  pigtail  behind. 
The  women  whom  we  met  in  the  streets  (at  least  those  of 
any  position,  for  only  the  common  work- women  let  their  feet 
grow)  hobbled  about  on  their  little  feet,  which  were  like  dolls' 
feet — a  sight  that  was  half  ludicrous  and  half  painful. 

But  if  we  were  amused  at  the  Chinese,  I  dare  say  they 
were  as  much  amused  at  us.  The  people  of  Canton  ought 
by  this  time  to  be  familiar  with  white  faces.  But,  strange  to 
say,  wherever  we  went  we  attracted  a  degree  of  attention 
which  had  never  been  accorded  us  before  in  any  foreign  city. 
Boys  ran  after  us,  shouting  as  they  i-an.  If  the  chairs  were 
set  down  in  the  street,  as  we  stopped  to  see  a  sight,  a  crowd 
gathered  in  a  moment.  There  was  no  rudeness,  but  mere 
curiosity.  If  we  went  into  a  temple,  a  throng  collected 
about  the  doors,  and  looked  in  at  the  windows,  and  opened 
a  passage  for  us  as  we  came  out,  and  followed  us  till  we  got 
into  our  chairs  and  disappeared  down  the  street.  The  ladies 
of  our  party  especially  seemed  to  be  objects  of  wonder. 
They  did  not  hobble  on  the  points  of  their  toes,  but  stood 
erect,  and  walked  with  a  firm  step.  Their  free  and  inde- 
pendent air  apparently  inspired  respect.  The  children 
seemed  to  hesitate  between  awe  and  terror.  One  little  fel- 
low I  remember,  who  dared  to  approach  too  near,  and  whom 
my  niece  cast  her  eye  upon,  thought  that  he  was  done  for, 
and  fled  howling.  I  have  no  doubt  all  reported,  when  they 
went  home,  that  they  had  seen  some  strange  specimens  of 
*'  foreign  devils." 

But  the  Chinese  are  a  highly  civilized  people.  In  some 
things,  indeed,  they  are  mere  children,  compared  with  Euro- 
peans ;  but  in  others  they  are  in  advance  of  us,  especially  those 
arts  which  require  great  delicacy,  such  as  the  manufacture  of 
some  kinds  of  jewelry,  exquisite  trinkets  in  gold  and  silver, 
in  which  Canton  rivals  Delhi  and  Lucknow,  and  in  the  finest 
work  in  ivory  and  in  precious  woods ;  also  in  those  which 
require  a  degree  of  patience   to   be   found  nowhere  except 


CHINESE   TEMPLES.  373 

araong  Asiatics.  For  example,  I  saw  a  man  carving  an 
elephant's  tusk,  wliich  would  take  him  a  whole  year  !  The 
Chinese  are  also  exquisite  workers  in  bronze,  as  well  as  in 
porcelain,  in  which  they  have  such  a  conceded  mastery  that 
specimens  of  "  old  China "  ornament  every  collection  in 
Europe.  Their  silks  are  as  rich  and  fine  as  any  that  are  pro- 
duced from  the  looms  of  Lyons  or  Antwerp.  This  need  not 
surprise  us,  for  we  must  remember  the  great  antiquity  of 
China ;  that  the  Chinese  were  a  highly  civilized  people  when 
our  ancestors,  the  Britons,  were  barbarians.  They  had  the 
art  of  printing  and  the  art  of  gunpowder  long  before  they  were 
known  in  Europe.  Chinese  books  are  iif  some  respects  a 
model  for  ours  now,  not  only  in  cheapness,  but  in  their  ex- 
treme lightness,  being  made  of  thin  bamboo  paper,  so  that  a 
book  weighs  in  the  hand  hardly  more  than  a  newspaper. 

Of  course  every  stranger  must  make  the  round  of  temples 
and  pagodas,  of  which  there  are  enough  to  satisfy  any  num- 
ber of  worshippers.  There  is  a  Temple  of  the  Five  Genii, 
and  one  of  the  Five  Hundred  Arhans,  or  scholars  of  Buddha. 
There  is  a  Temple  of  Confucius,  and  a  Temple  of  the  Em- 
peror, where  the  mandarins  go  and  pay  to  his  Majesty  and  to 
the  Sage  an  homage  of  divine  adoration.  I  climbed  up  into 
his  royal  seat,  and  thought  I  was  quite  as  fit  an  object  of 
worship  as  he  !  There  is  a  Temple  of  Horrors,  which  out- 
does the  "  Chamber  of  Horrors "  in  Madame  Tussaud's 
famous  exhibition  of  wax- works  in  London.  It  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  all  the  torments  which  are  supposed  to  be  en- 
dured by  the  damned,  and  reminds  one  of  those  fi-ightful 
pictures  painted  in  the  Middle  Ages  in  some  Roman  Catholic 
countries,  in  which  heretics  are  seen  in  the  midst  of  flames, 
tossed  about  by  devils  on  pitchforks.  But  the  Chinese  soften 
the  impression.  To  restore  the  balance  of  mind,  terrified  by 
these  frightful  representations,  there  is  a  Temple  of  Longevity, 
in  which  there  is  a  figure  of  Buddha,  such  as  the  ancient 
Romans  might  have  made  of  Bacchus  or  Silenus — a  moun- 


374  roEA    OF   EETKIBrTION. 

tain  of  flesh,  with  fat  eyes,  laughing  mouth,  and  enormous 
paunch.  Even  the  four  Kings  of  Heaven,  that  rule  over  the 
four  points  of  the  compass — North,  South,  East,  and  West — 
have  much  more  of  an  earthly  than  a  heavenly  look.  All 
these  figures  are  grotesque  and  hideous  enough  ;  but  to  their 
credit  be  it  said,  they  are  not  obscene,  like  the  figures  in  the 
temples  of  India.  Here  we  made  the  same  observation  as  in 
Burmah,  that  Buddhism  is  a  much  cleaner  and  more  decent 
religion  than  Hindooism.  This  is  to  its  honor.  "  Buddhism," 
says  Williams,  "  is  the  least  revolting  and  impure  of  all 
false  religions."  Its  general  character  we  have  seen  else- 
where. Its  precepts  enjoin  self-denial  and  practical  benevo- 
lence. It  has  no  cruel  or  bloody  rites,  and  nothing  gross 
in  its  worship.  Of  its  priests,  some  are  learned  men,  but  the 
mass  are  ignorant,  yet  sober  and  inoffensive.  At  least  they 
are  not  a  scandal  to  their  faith,  as  are  the  priests  of  some 
forms  of  Christianity.  That  the  Chinese  are  imbued  with 
religious  ideas  is  indicated  in  the  very  names  of  the  streets 
already  mentioned,  whereby,  though  in  a  singular  fashion, 
they  commemorate  and  glorify  certain  attributes  of  character. 
The  idea  wliich  seems  most  deep-rooted  in  theii*  minds  is 
that  of  retribution  according  to  conduct.  The  maxim  most 
frequent  in  their  mouths  is  that  good  actions  bring  their  own 
reward,  and  bad  actions  their  own  punishment.  This  idea 
was  very  pithily  expressed  by  the  famous  hong-merchant, 
Howqua,  in  reply  to  an  American  sea-captain,  who  asked 
him  his  idea  of  future  rewards  and  punishments,  to  which  he 
replied  in  pigeon-English  :  "  A  man  do  good,  he  go  to  Joss  ; 
he  no  do  good,  very  much  bamboo  catchee  he  !  " 

But  we  will  leave  the  temples  with  their  grinning  idols ;  as 
we  leave  the  restaurants,  where  lovers  of  dainty  dishes  are 
regaled  with  dogs  and  cats ;  and  the  opiiim-shops,  where  the 
Chinese  loll  and  smoke  till  they  are  stupefied  by  the  horrid 
drug  ;  for  Canton  has  something  more  attractive.  We  found 
a  very  curious  study  in  the  Examination  Hall,  illustrating,  as 


THE   EXAMINATION   HALL.  375 

it  does,  the  Chinese  manner  of  elevating  men  to  oflfice.  We 
hear  much  in  our  country  of  "  civil  service  reform,"  which 
some  innocently  suppose  to  be  a  new  discovery  in  political 
economy — an  American  invention.  But  the  Chinese  have 
had  it  for  a  thousand  years.  Here  appointments  to  office  are 
made  as  the  result  of  a  competitive  examination;  and  al- 
though there  may  be  secret  favoritism  and  bribery,  yet  the 
theory  is  one  of  perfect  equaUty.  In  this  respect  China  is 
the  most  absolute  democracy  in  the  world.  There  is  no 
hereditary  rank  or  order  of  nobility ;  the  lowest  menial,  if 
he  has  native  talent,  may  raise  himself  by  study  and  perse- 
verance to  be  Prime  Minister  of  the  Empii-e. 

In  the  eastern  quarter  of  Canton  is  an  enclosure  of  many 
acres,  laid  off  in  a  manner  which  betokens  some  unusual  pur- 
pose. The  ground  is  divided  by  a  succession  of  long,  low 
buildings,  not  much  better  than  horse-sheds  around  a  New 
England  meeting-house  of  the  olden  time.  They  run  in 
parallel  lines,  like  barracks  for  a  camp,  and  are  divided  into 
narrow  compartments.  Once  in  three  years  this  vast  camp- 
ing-ground presents  an  extraordinary  spectacle,  for  then  are 
gathered  in  these  courts,  from  all  parts  of  the  province,  some 
ten  thousand  candidates,  all  of  whom  have  previously  passed 
a  first  examination,  and  received  a  degree,  and  now  ap- 
pear to  compete  for  the  second.  Some  are  young,  and  some 
are  old,  for  there  is  no  limit  put  upon  age.  As  the  candi- 
dates present  themselves,  each  man  is  searched,  to  see  that  he 
has  no  books,  or  helps  of  any  kind,  concealed  upon  his  per- 
son, and  then  put  into  a  stall  about  three  feet  wide,  just 
large  enough  to  turn  around  in,  and  as  bare  as  a  prisoner's 
cell.  There  is  a  niche  in  the  wall,  in  which  a  board  can  be 
placed  for  him  to  sit  upon,  and  another  niche  to  support  a 
board  that  has  to  serve  as  break  fast- table  and  writing-table. 
This  is  the  furniture  of  his  room.  Here  he  is  shut  in  from 
all  communication  with  the  world,  his  food  being  passed  to 
him  through  the  door,  as  to  a  prisoner.     Certain  themes  are 


376  CIVIL   SERVICE   IN   CHINA. 

then  submitted  to  him  in  writing,  on  which  he  is  to  furnish 
written  essays,  intended  generally,  and  perhaps  always,  to 
determine  his  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  classics.  It  is  some- 
times said  that  these  are  frivolous  questions,  the  answers  to 
which  afford  no  proof  whatever  of  one's  capacity  for  oflfice ; 
but  it  should  be  remembered  that  these  classics  are  the  wri- 
tings of  Confucius,  which  are  the  political  ethics  of  the  coun- 
try, the  very  foundation  of  the  government,  without  knowing 
which  one  is  not  qualified  to  take  part  in  its  administration. 

The  candidate  goes  into  his  cell  in  the  afternoon,  and 
spends  the  night  there,  which  gives  him  time  for  reflection, 
and  all  the  next  day  and  the  next  night,  when  he  comes  out, 
and  after  a  few  days  is  put  in  again  for  another  trial  of  the 
same  character  ;  and  this  is  repeated  a  third  time ;  at  the  end 
of  which  he  is  released  from  solitary  confinement,  and  his 
essays  are  submitted  for  examination.  Of  the  ten  thousand, 
only  seventy-five  can  obtain  a  degree — not  one  in  a  hundred  ! 
The  nine  thousand  and  nine  hundred  must  go  back  disap- 
pointed, their  only  consolation  being  that  after  three  yeai's 
they  can  try  again.  Even  the  successful  ones  do  not  thereby 
get  an  office,  but  only  the  right  to  enter  for  a  third  competi- 
tion, which  takes  place  at  Peking,  by  which  of  course  their 
ranks  are  thinned  still  more.  The  few  who  get  through  this 
threefold  ordeal  take  a  high  place  in  the  literary  or  learned 
class,  from  which  all  appointments  to  the  public  service  are 
made.  Here  is  the  system  of  examination  complete.  No 
trial  can  be  imagined  more  severe,  and  it  ought  to  give  the 
Chinese  the  best  civil  service  in  the  world. 

May  we  not  get  a  hint  from  this  for  our  instruction 
in  America,  where  some  of  our  best  men  are  making 
earnest  efforts  for  civil  service  reform  ?  If  the  candidates, 
who  flock  to  Washington  at  the  beginning  of  each  adminis- 
tration, were  to  be  put  into  cells,  and  fed  on  bread  and  water, 
it  might  check  the  rage  for  oflSce,  and  the  number  of  appli- 
cants might  be  diminished  j  and  if  they  were  required  to  pass 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE.  377 

an  examination,  and  to  furnish  written  essays,  showing  at 
least  some  degree  of  knowledge  of  political  affairs,  we  might 
have  a  more  intelligent  class  of  officials  to  fill  consular  posts 
in  different  parts  of  the  world. 

But,  unfortunat^ely,  it  might  be  answered  that  examina- 
tions, be  they  ever  so  strict,  do  not  change  human  nature,  nor 
make  men  just  or  humane  ;  and  that  even  the  rigid  system  of 
China  does  not  restrain  rulers  from  corruption,  nor  protect 
the  people  from  acts  of  oppression  and  cruelty. 

Three  spots  in  Canton  had  for  me  the  fascination  of  horror 
— the  court,  the  prison,  and  the  execution  ground.  I  had 
heard  terrible  tales  of  the  trial  by  torture — of  men  racked  to 
extort  the  secrets  of  crime,  and  of  the  punishments  which 
followed.  These  stories  haunted  me,  and  I  hoped  to  find 
some  features  which  would  relieve  the  impression  of  so  much 
horror.  I  wished  to  see  for  myself  the  administration  of 
justice — to  witness  a  trial  in  a  Chinese  court.  A  few  years 
ago  this  would  have  been  impossible ;  foreigners  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  courts.  But  now  they  are  open,  and  all  can 
see  who  have  the  nerve  to  look  on.  Therefore,  after  we  had 
made  a  long  circuit  through  the  streets  of  Canton,  I  directed 
the  bearers  to  take  us  to  the  Yamun,  the  Hall  of  Justice. 
Leaving  our  chairs  in  the  street,  we  passed  through  a  large 
open  court  into  a  hall  in  the  rear,  where  at  that  very  mo- 
ment several  trials  were  going  on. 

The  court-room  was  very  plain.  A  couple  of  judges  sat 
behind  tables,  before  whom  a  number  of  prisoners  were 
brought  in.  The  mode  of  proceeding  was  very  foreign  to 
American  or  European  ideas.  There  was  neither  jury  nor 
witnesses.  This  simplified  matters  exceedingly.  There  is  no 
trial  by  jury  in  China.  While  we  haggle  about  impanelling 
juries  and  getting  testimony,  and  thus  trials  drag  on  for 
weeks,  in  China  no  such  obstacle  is  allowed  to  impede  the 
rapid  course  of  justice  ;  and  what  is  more,  there  are  no  law- 
yers to  pei-plex  the  case  with  their  arguments,  but  the  judge 


378  CRIMINALS  BEFOBE  THE  JUDGE, 

has  it  all  his  own  way.  He  is  simply  confronted  with  the 
accused,  and  they  have  it  all  between  them. 

While  we  stood  here,  a  number  of  prisoners  were  brought 
in ;  some  were  carried  in  baskets  (as  they  are  borne  to  exe- 
cution), and  dumped  on  the  stone  pavement  like  so  many 
bushels  of  potatoes ;  others  were  led  in  with  chains  around 
their  necks.  As  each  one's  name  was  called,  he  came  for- 
ward and  fell  on  his  knees  before  the  judge,  and  lifted  up  his 
hands  to  beg  for  mercy.  He  was  then  told  of  the  crime  of 
which  he  was  accused,  and  given  opportunity  if  he  had  any- 
thing to  say  in  his  own  defence.  There  was  no  apparent 
harshness  or  cruelty  towards  him,  except  that  he  was  pre- 
sumed to  be  guilty,  unless  he  could  prove  his  innocence ; 
contrary  to  the  English  maxim  of  law,  that  a  man  is  to  be 
presumed  innocent  until  he  is  proved  guilty.  In  this,  how- 
ever, the  Chinese  practice  is  not  very  diflferent  from  that 
which  exists  at  this  day  in  so  enlightened  a  country  as 
jprance. 

For  example,  two  men  were  accused  of  being  concerned  to- 
gether in  a  burglary.  As  they  were  from  another  prefecture, 
where  there  is  another  dialect,  they  had  to  be  examined 
through  an  interpreter.  The  judge  wished  to  find  out  who 
were  leagued  with  them,  and  therefore  questioned  them  sep- 
arately. Each  was  brought  in  in  a  basket,  chained  and  dou- 
bled up,  so  that  he  sat  helplessly.  No  witness  was  examined, 
but  the  man  himself  was  simply  interrogated  by  the  judge. 

In  another  case,  two  men  were  accused  of  robbery  with 
violence — a  capital  ofience,  but  by  the  Chinese  law  no  man 
can  be  punished  with  death  unless  he  confesses  his  crime ; 
hence  every  means  is  employed  to  lead  a  criminal  to  ac- 
knowledge his  guilt.  Of  course  in  a  case  of  life  and  death  he 
will  deny  it  as  long  as  he  can.  But  if  he  will  not  confess, 
the  court  proceeds  to  take  stringent  measures  to  make  him 
confess,  for  which  purpose  these  two  men  were  now  put  to 
the  torture.     The  mode  of  torture  was  this  :  There  were  two 


MEN  PUT  TO   THE  TORTUfiE.  879 

round  pillars  in  the  hall.  Each  m8ui  was  on  his  knees,  with 
his  feet  chained  behind  him,  so  that  he  could  not  stir.  Ho 
was  then  placed  with  his  back  to  one  of  these  columns,  and 
small  cords  were  fastened  around  his  thumbs  and  great  toes, 
and  drawn  back  tightly  to  the  pillar  behind.  This  soon  pro- 
duced intense  suffering.  Their  breasts  heaved,  the  veins  on 
their  foreheads  stood  out  like  whipcords,  and  every  featxire 
betrayed  the  most  excruciating  agony.  Every  few  minutes 
an  officer  of  the  court  asked  if  they  were  ready  to  confess, 
and  as  often  they  answered,  "  No  ;  never  would  they  confess 
that  they  had  committed  such  a  crime."  They  were  told  if 
they  did  not  confess,  they  would  be  subjected  to  still  greater 
torture.  But  they  still  held  out,  though  every  moment 
seemed  an  hour  of  pain. 

While  these  poor  wretches  were  thus  writhing  in  agony,  I 
turned  to  the  judge  to  see  how  he  bore  the  spectacle  of  such 
suffering.  He  sat  at  his  table  quite  unmoved ;  yet  he  did 
not  seem  like  a  brutal  man,  but  like  a  man  of  education, 
such  as  one  might  see  on  the  bench  in  England  or  America. 
He  seemed  to  look  upon  it  as  in  the  ordinaiy  course  of  pro- 
ceedings, and  a  necessary  step  in  the  conviction  of  a  criminal. 
He  used  no  bravado,  and  offered  no  taunt  or  insult.  But 
the  cries  of  the  sufferers  did  not  move  him,  nor  prevent  his 
taking  his  accustomed  ease.  He  sat  fanning  himself  and 
smoking  his  pipe,  as  if  he  said  he  could  stand  it  as  long  as 
they  could.  Of  course  he  kjaew  that,  as  their  heads  were  at 
stake,  they  would  deny  theii*  guilt  till  compelled  to  yield ; 
but  he  seemed  to  look  upon  it  aa  simply  a  question  of  endur- 
ance, in  which,  if  he  kept  on  long  enough,  there  could  be 
but  one  issue. 

But  still  the  men  did  not  give  in,  and  1  looked  at  them 
with  amazement  mingled  with  horror,  to  see  what  human 
natiu'e  could  endure.  The  sight  was  too  painful  to  witness 
more  than  a  few  moments,  and  I  rushed  away,  leaving  the 
men  still  hanging  to  the  pillars  of  torture.    I  confess  I  felt  a 


380  DEFENCE   OF    TORTUKE. 

relief  when  I  went  back  the  next  day,  to  hear  that  they  had 
not  yielded,  but  held  out  unflinchingly  to  the  last. 

Horrible  as  this  seems,  I  have  heard  good  men — men  of 
humanity — argue  in  favor  of  torture,  at  least  "  when  applied 
in  a  mild  way."  They  affirm  that  in  China  there  can  be  no 
administration  of  justice  without  it.  In  a  country  where 
testimony  is  absolutely  worthless — where  as  many  men  can 
be  hired  to  swear  falsely  for  ten  cents  apiece  as  you  have 
money  to  buy — there  is  no  possible  way  of  arriving  at  the 
truth  but  by  extorting  it.  No  doubt  it  is  a  rough  process, 
but  it  secures  the  result.  As  it  happened,  the  English  gen- 
tleman who  accompanied  us  was  a  magistrate  in  India,  and 
he  confirmed  the  statement  as  to  the  difficulty,  and  in  many 
cases  the  impossibility,  of  getting  at  the  truth,  because  of  the 
unfathomable  deceit  of  the  natives.  Many  cases  came  before 
him  in  which  he  was  sure  a  witness  was  lying,  but  he  was 
helpless  to  prove  it,  when  a  little  gentle  application  of  the 
thumbscrew,  or  even  a  good  whipping,  would  have  brought 
out  the  truth,  which,  for  want  of  it,  could  not  be  dis- 
covered. 

To  the  objection  that  such  methods  may  coerce  the  inno- 
cent as  well  as  the  guilty — that  the  pain  may  be  so  great 
that  innocent  men  will  confess  crimes  that  they  never  com- 
mitted, rather  than  suffer  tortures  worse  than  death — the 
answer  is,  that  as  guilt  makes  men  cowards,  the  guilty 
will  give  up,  while  the  innocfnt  hold  out.  But  this  is 
simply  trusting  to  the  trial  by  lot.  It  is  the  old  ordeal  by 
fire.  A  better  answer  is,  that  the  court  has  beforehand 
strong  presumptive  evidence  of  the  crime,  and  that  a  prisoner 
is  not  put  to  the  torture  until  it  has  been  well  ascertained 
by  testimony  obtained  elsewhere  that  he  is  a  great  ofiender. 
When  it  is  thus  determined  that  he  is  a  robber  or  a  mur- 
derer, who  ought  not  to  live,  then  this  last  step  is  taken  to 
compel  him  to  acknowledge  his  guilt,  and  the  justice  of  his 
condemnation. 


OTHER   SCENES   IN   CODRT.  3  SI 

But  there  are  cases  in  which  a  man  may  be  wrongfully  ac- 
cused ;  an  enemy  may  bribe  a  witness  to  make  a  complaint 
against  him,  upon  which  he  is  arrested  and  cast  into 
prison.  Then,  unless  he  can  "bring  some  powerful  influence 
to  rescue  him,  his  case  is  hopeless.  He  denies  his  guilt,  and 
is  put  to  the  rack  for  an  offence  of  which  he  is  wholly  inno- 
cent. Such  cases,  no  doubt,  occur ;  and  yet  men  who  have 
lived  here  many  years,  such  as  Dr.  Happer  and  Ai'chdeacon 
Gray,  tell  me  that  they  do  not  believe  there  is  a  country  in 
the  world  where,  on  the  whole,  justice  is  more  impartially 
administered  than  in  Cliina. 

I  was  so  painfully  interested  in  this  matter,  that  I  went 
back  to  the  Yamun  the  next  day  in  company  with  Dr.  Hap- 
per, to  watch  the  proceedings  further.  As  before,  a  number 
of  prisoners  were  brought  in,  with  chains  around  their  necks, 
each  of  whom,  when  called,  fell  down  on  his  knees  before  the 
judge  and  begged  for  mercy.  They  were  not  answered 
harshly  or  roughly,  but  listened  to  with  patience  and  atten- 
tion. Several  whose  cases  were  not  capital,  at  once  con- 
fessed their  oftence,  and  took  the  punishment.  One  young 
fellow,  a  mere  overgrown  boy  of  perhaps  eighteen,  was 
brought  up,  charged  with  disobedience  to  parents.  He  con- 
fessed his  fault,  and  blubbered  piteously  for  mercy,  and  was 
let  off  for  this  time  with  rather  a  mild  punishment,  wliich 
was  to  wear  a  chain  with  a  heavy  stone  attached,  which  he 
was  to  drag  about  after  him  in  the  street  before  the  prison, 
where  he  was  exposed  to  the  scorn  of  the  people.  The 
judge,  however,  warned  him  that  if  he  repeated  the  disobedi- 
ence, and  was  arrested  again,  he  would  be  liable  to  be  pun- 
ished with  death  !  Such  is  the  rigor  with  which  the  laws 
of  China  enforce  obedience  to  parents. 

A  man  accused  of  theft  confessed  it,  and  was  sentenced  to 
wear  the  cangue — a  board  about  three  feet  square — around 
his  neck  for  a  certain  time,  perhaps  several  weeks,  on  wliich 
his  name  was  painted  in  large  characters,  with  the  crime  of 


382  A   NOTED   MALEFACTOK. 

whicli  he  was  guilty,  that  all  who  saw  him  might  know  that 
he  was  a  thief ! 

These  were  petty  cases,  such  as  might  be  disposed  of  in 
any  police  court.  But  now  appeared  a  greater  offender.  A 
man  was  led  in  with  a  chain  around  his  neck,  who  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  noted  malefactor.  He  was  charged 
with  both  robbery  and  murder.  The  case  had  been  pending 
a  long  time.  The  crime,  or  crimes,  had  been  committed  four 
years  ago.  Tlie  man  had  been  brought  up  repeatedly,  but  as 
no  amount  of  pressure  could  make  him  confess,  he  could  not 
be  executed.  He  was  now  to  have  another  hearing.  He 
knelt  down  on  the  hard  stone  floor,  and  heard  the  accusation, 
which  he  denied  as  he  had  done  before,  and  loudly  protested 
his  innocence.  The  judge,  who  was  a  man  of  middle  age, 
with  a  fine  intellectual  countenance,  was  in  no  haste  to  con- 
demn, but  listened  patiently.  He  was  in  a  mild,  persuasive 
mood,  perhaps  the  more  so  because  he  was  refreshing  himself 
as  a  Chinaman  likes  to  do.  As  he  sat  listening,  he  took 
several  small  cups  of  tea.  A  boy  in  attendance  brought  him 
also  his  pipe,  filled  with  tobacco,  which  he  put  in  his  mouth, 
and  took  two  or  three  puffs,  when  he  handed  it  back  ;  and 
the  boy  cleaned  it,  filled  it,  and  lighted  it  again.  With  such 
support  to  his  physical  weakness,  who  could  not  listen 
patiently  to  a  man  who  was  on  his  knees  before  him  plead- 
ing for  his  life  ?  But  the  case  was  a  very  bad  one.  It  had 
been  referred  back  to  the  village  in  which  the  man  was 
born,  and  the  "  elders,"  who  form  the  local  government  in 
every  petty  commune  in  China,  had  inquired  into  the  facts, 
and  reported  that  he  was  a  notorious  offender,  accused  of  no 
less  than  seven  crimes — five  robberies,  one  murder,  and  one 
maiming.  Tliis  was  a  pretty  strong  indictment.  But  the 
man  protested  that  he  had  been  made  the  victim  of  a  con- 
spiracy to  destroy  him.  The  judge  replied  that  it  might  be 
that  he  should  be  wrongfully  accused  by  one  enemy,  but  it 
was  hardly  possible  that  a  hundred  people  of  his  native  vil- 


THE  PEI80N.  383 

lage  shotild  combine  to  accuse  him  falsely.  Theii*  written 
report  was  read  by  the  clerk,  who  then  held  it  up  before  the 
man,  that  he  might  see  it  in  white  and  black.  Still  he 
denied  as  before,  and  the  judge,  instead  of  putting  him  to 
the  torture,  simply  remanded  him  to  prison  for  further  ex- 
amination. In  all  these  cases  there  was  no  eagerness  to  con- 
vict or  to  sentence  the  accused.  They  were  listened  to  with 
patience,  and  apparently  all  proper  force  was  allowed  to  what 
they  had  to  say  in  their  own  defence. 

This  relieves  a  good  deal  the  apparent  severity  of  the 
Chinese  code.  It  does  not  condemn  without  hearing.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  does  not  cover  up  with  fine  phrases  or 
foolish  sentiment  the  terrible  reality  of  crime.  It  believes 
in  crime  as  an  awful  fact  in  human  society,  and  in  punish- 
ment as  a  repressive  force  that  must  be  appKed  to  keep 
society  from  destruction. 

Next  to  the  Yamun  is  the  prison,  in  which  are  confined 
those  charged  with  capital  ofiences.  We  were  admitted  by 
paying  a  small  fee  to  the  keepers,  and  were  at  once  sur- 
rounded by  forty  or  fifty  wretched  objects,  some  of  whom 
had  been  subjected  to  torture,  and  who  held  up  their  limbs 
which  had  been  racked,  and  sliowed  their  bodies  all  covered 
with  wounds,  as  an  appeal  to  pity.  We  gave  them  some 
money  to  buy  tobacco,  as  that  is  the  solace  which  they  crave 
next  to  opium,  and  hurried  away. 

But  there  is  a  place  more  terrible  than  the  prison ;  it  is 
the  execution-ground.  Outside  the  walls  of  Canton,  be- 
tween the  city  gate  and  the  river,  is  a  spot  which  may  well 
be  called  Golgotha,  the  place  of  a  skull.  It  is  simply  a  dirty 
vacant  lot,  partly  covered  with  earthenware  pots  and  pans,  a 
few  rods  long,  on  one  side  of  which  is  a  dead  wall ;  but 
within  this  narrow  space  has  been  shed  more  blood  than  on 
any  other  spot  of  the  earth's  surface.  Here  those  sentenced 
to  death  are  beheaded.  Every  few  days  a  gloomy  procession 
files  into  the  lane,  and  the  condemned  are  ranged  against  the 


384  THE  EXECUTION  GROUND. 

wall  on  their  knees,  when  an  assistant  pulls  up  tneir  pinioned 
arms  from  behind,  which  forces  their  lieads  forward,  and  the 
executioner  coming  to  one  after  another,  cleaves  the  neck  with 
a  blow.  A  number  of  skulls  were  scattered  about — of  those 
whose  bodies  had  been  removed,  but  whose  heads  were  left 
uuburied.  In  the  lane  is  the  house  of  the  executioner — a 
thick,  short-set  man,  in  a  greasy  frock,  looking  like  a 
butcher  fresh  from  the  shambles.  Though  a  coarse,  ugly 
fellow,  he  did  not  look,  as  one  might  suppose,  like  a  monster 
of  cruelty,  but  was  simply  a  dull,  stolid  creature,  who  under- 
took this  as  he  would  any  other  kind  of  business,  and  cut  off 
human  heads  with  as  little  feeling  as  he  would  those  of 
so  many  sheep.  He  picks  up  a  little  money  by  exhibiting 
himself  and  his  weapon  of  death.  He  brought  out  his  sword 
to  show  it  to  us.  It  was  short  and  heavy,  like  a  butcher's 
cleaver.  I  took  it  in  my  hand,  and  felt  of  the  blade.  It 
was  dull,  and  rusted  with  stains  of  blood.  He  apologized 
for  its  appearance,  but  explained  that  it  had  not  been  used 
recently,  and  added  that  whenever  it  was  needed  for  service, 
he  sharpened  it.  I  asked  him  how  many  heads  he  had  cut 
off.  He  did  not  know — had  not  kept  count — but  supposed 
some  hundreds.  Sometimes  there  were  "  two  or  thi-ee  tens  " 
— that  is,  twenty  or  thirty — at  once.  Rev.  Mr.  Preston 
told  me  he  had  seen  forty  cut  off  in  one  morning.  Dr. 
Williams  had  such  a  horror  of  blood  that  he  could  never  be 
present  at  an  execution,  but  he  one  day  saw  nearly  two 
hundred  headless  trunks  lying  here,  with  their  heads,  which 
had  just  been  severed  from  the  bodies,  scattered  over  the 
ground.  Mr.  Preston  had  seen  heads  piled  up  six  feet  high. 
It  ought  to  be  said,  however,  that  in  ordinary  times  no 
criminal  convicted  of  a  capital  offence  can  be  executed  any- 
where in  the  province  (which  is  a  district  of  nearly  eighty 
thousand  square  miles,  with  twenty  millions  of  inhabitants) 
except  in  Canton,  and  with  the  cognizance  of  the  governor. 
The  carnival  of  blood  was  during  the  Taiping  rebellion  in 


A   CARKIYAL   OF   BLOOD,  385 

1855.  That  rebellion  invaded  this  province ;  it  had  posses- 
sion of  Whampoa,  and  even  endangered  Canton.  When  it 
was  suppressed,  it  was  stamped  out  in  blood.  There  were 
executions  by  wholesale.  All  who  had  taken  part  in  it  were 
sentenced  to  death,  and  as  the  insurgents  were  numbered  by 
tens  of  thousands,  the  work  went  on  for  days  and  weeks  and 
months.  The  stream  of  blood  never  ceased  to  flow.  The 
rebels  were  brought  up  the  river  in  boat-loads.  The  magis- 
trates in  the  villages  of  the  province  were  supposed  to  have 
made  an  examination.  It  was  enough  that  they  were  found 
with  arms  in  their  hands.  There  were  no  prisons  which 
could  hold  such  an  army,  and  the  only  way  to  deal  with  them 
was  to  execute  them.  Accordingly  every  day  a  detachment 
was  marched  out  to  the  execution  ground,  where  forty  or 
fifty  men  would  be  standing  with  coffins,  to  receive  and  carry 
off  the  bodies.  They  were  taken  out  of  the  city  by  a  certain 
gate,  and  here  Dr.  "Williams  engaged  a  man  to  count  them  as 
they  passed,  and  thus  he  kept  the  fearful  roll  of  the  dead  ; 
and  comparing  it  with  the  published  lists  he  found  the  num- 
ber executed  in  fourteen  months  to  be  eighty-one  thousand  ! 
An  Aceldama  indeed  !  It  is  not,  then,  too  much  to  say  that 
taking  the  years  together,  within  this  narrow  ground  blood 
enough  has  been  shed  to  float  the  Great  Eastern. 

But  decapitation  is  a  simple  business  compared  with 
that  which  the  executioner  has  sometimes  to^  perform.  I 
observed  standing  against  the  wall  some  half  a  dozen  rude 
crosses,  made  of  bamboo,  which  reminded  me  that  death  is 
sometimes  inflicted  by  crucifixion.  This  mode  of  punish- 
ment is  reserved  for  the  worst  malefactors.  They  are  not 
nailed  to  the  cross  to  die  a  lingering  death,  but  lashed  to 
it  by  ropes,  and  then  slowly  sti-angled  or  cut  to  pieces. 
The  executioner  explained  coolly  how  he  first  cut  out  an  eye, 
or  sliced  off  a  piece  of  the  cheek  or  the  breast,  and  so  pro- 
ceeded deliberately,  till  with  one  tremendous  stroke  the  body 
was  cleft  in  twain. 
17 


386  CANTON   WELL   GOVEENED. 

Thus  Chinese  law  illustrates  its  idea  of  punishment,  which 
is  to  inflict  it  with  tremendous  rigor.  It  not  only  holds  to 
capital  punishment,  but  sometimes  makes  a  man  in  dying 
suiter  a  thousand  deaths.  A  gentleman  at  Fuhchau  told  me 
that  he  had  seen  a  criminal  starved  to  death.  A  man  who 
had  robbed  a  woman,  using  violence,  was  put  into  a  cage  in 
a  public  place,  with  his  head  out  of  a  hole,  exposed  to  the 
sun,  and  his  body  extended,  and  there  left  to  die  by  inches. 
The  foreign  community  were  horror-struck ;  the  consuls 
protested  against  it,  but  in  vain.  He  lingered  four  days 
before  death  came  to  put  an  end  to  his  agony.  There  were 
about  twenty  so  punished  at  Canton  in  1843,  for  incen- 
diarism. 

We  shudder  at  these  harrowing  tales  of  "  man's  inhuman- 
ity to  man,"  But  we  must  not  take  the  pictures  of  these 
terrible  scenes,  as  if  they  were  things  which  stare  in  the 
eyes  of  all  beholders,  or  which  give  the  fairest  impression 
of  Chinese  law;  as  if  this  were  a  coiintry  in  which  there 
is  nothing  but  suffering  and  crime.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
pre-eminently  a  land  of  peace  and  order.  The  Chinese  are  a 
law-abiding  people.  Because  a  few  hundred  bad  men  are 
found  in  a  city  of  a  million  inhabitants,  and  punished  with 
severity,  we  must  not  suppose  that  this  is  a  lawless  commu- 
nity. Those  who  would  charge  this,  may  at  least  be  called 
on  to  point  out  a  better-governed  city  in  Europe. 

This  fearful  Draconian  code  can  at  least  claim  that  it  is 
successful  in  suppressing  crime.  The  law  is  a  terror  to  evil- 
doers. The  proof  of  this  is  that  order  is  so  well  preserved. 
This  great  city  of  Canton  is  as  quiet,  and  life  and  property 
are  as  safe,  as  in  London  or  New  York.  Yet  it  is  done  with 
no  display  of  force.  There  is  no  obtrusion  of  the  police  or 
the  military,  as  in  Paris  or  Vienna.  The  gates  of  the  city 
are  shut  at  night,  and  the  Tartar  soldiers  make  their  rounds ; 
but  the  armed  hand  is  not  always  held  up  before  the  public 
eye.     The  Chinese  Government  has  learned  to  make  its  au* 


EXAMPLE   OF   INDUSTKY   AND   PEACE.  887 

thority  respected  without  the  constant  display  of  military 
power. 

The  Chinese  are  the  most  industrious  people  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  for  only  by  constant  and  universal  industry  can 
a  population  of  four  hundred  millions  live.  When  such 
masses  of  hiiman  beings  are  crowded  together,  the  strug- 
gle for  existence  is  so  great,  that  it  is  only  by  keeping  the 
millions  of  hands  busy  that  food  can  be  obtained  for  the 
millions  of  mouths.  The  same  necessity  enforces  peace  with 
each  other,  and  therefore  from  necessity,  as  well  as  from 
moral  considerations,  this  has  been  the  policy  of  China  from 
the  beginning.  Its  whole  political  economy,  taught  long 
since  by  Confucius,  Ls  contained  in  two  words — Industry  and 
Peace.  By  an  adherence  to  these  simple  principles,  the  Em- 
pire has  held  together  for  thousands  of  years,  while  every 
other  nation  has  gone  to  pieces.  China  has  never  been  an 
aggressive  nation,  given  to  wars  of  conquest.  It  has  indeed 
at  tern  J)  ted  to  subdue  the  tribes  of  Central  Asia,  and  holds  a 
weak  sway  over  Turkistan  and  Thibet ;  while  Corea  and  Loo- 
choo  and  Annam  still  acknowledge  a  kind  of  fealty,  now 
long  since  repudiated  by  Burmah  and  Siam.  But  in  almost 
all  cases  it  has  "  stooped  to  conquer,"  and  been  satisfied  with 
a  sort  of  tribute,  iustead  of  attempting  roughly  to  enforce 
its  authority,  which  would  lead  to  perpetual  wars.  Thus  has 
China  followed  the  lesson  of  Confucius,  furnishing  the  most 
stupendous  example  on  the  face  of  the  earth  of  the  advan- 
tage to  nations  of  industry  and  peace. 

The  reason  for  this  general  respect  and  obedience  to  law 
may  be  found  in  another  fact,  which  is  to  the  immortal  honor 
of  the  Chinese.  It  is  the  respect  and  obedience  to  parents. 
In  China  the  family  is  the  foundation  of  the  state ;  and  the 
very  first  law  of  society,  as  well  as  of  religion,  is  :  "  Honor 
thy  father  and  mother."  In  no  country  in  the  world  is  this 
law  so  universally  obeyed.  The  presei-vation  of  China  amid 
the  wreck  of  other  kingdoms  is  largely  due  to  its  respect  to 


388  EESPECT   FOR   PARENTS. 

the  Fifth  Commandment,  which  has  proved  literally  "  a  com- 
mandment with  promise  ; " — the  pi'omise,  "  that  thy  days  may 
be  long  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  tliee," 
having  been  fulfilled  in  the  preservation  of  this  country  from 
age  to  age. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  respect  to  parents,  which  im- 
poses an  authority  over  children,  and  binds  them  together,  the 
family  feeling  in  China  is  very  strong.  This,  however  noble 
in  itself,  has  some  evil  effects,  as  it  often  separates  the  peo- 
ple of  a  town  or  village  by  fexids  and  divisions,  which  are  as 
distinct,  and  as  jealous  and  hostile,  as  the  old  Highland  clans 
in  Scotland.  This  interferes  with  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice. If  a  crime  is  committed,  all  of  one's  clan  are  in  league 
to  screen  and  protect  the  offender,  while  the  rival  clan  is  as 
eager  to  pursue  and  destroy  him.  Woe  to  the  man  who  is 
accused,  and  who  has  no  friend  !  But  the  disposition  to 
stand  by  each  other  manifests  itself  in  many  acts  of  mutual 
helpfulness,  of  devotion  and  personal  sacrifice. 

Carrying  out  the  same  idea,  the  nation  is  only  a  larger 
family,  and  the  government  a  patriarchal  despotism.  There 
is  no  representative  government,  no  Congress  or  Parliament ; 
and  yet  there  is  a  kind  of  local  government,  like  that  of  our 
New  England  towns.  Every  village  is  governed  by  "  elders," 
who  are  responsible  for  its  police,  who  look  after  rascals,  and 
who  also  aid  in  assessing  the  taxes  for  the  local  and  general 
governments.  By  this  union  of  a  great  central  power  with 
local  administration  of  local  affairs,  the  government  has  man- 
aged to  hold  together  hundreds  of  millions  of  human  beings, 
and  make  its  authority  respected  over  a  large  part  of  Asia. 

This  family  feeling  moulds  even  the  religion  of  China, 
which  takes  the  form  of  a  worship  of  ancestors.  Those  who 
have  given  them  existence  are  not  lost  when  they  have  ceased 
to  breathe.  They  are  still  the  links  of  being  by  which,  and 
through  which,  the  present  living  world  came  from  the  hand 
pf  the  Creator,  and  are  to  be  reverenced  with  a  devotion  next 


EELATIOKS   TO   OTHER   COUNTRIES.  389 

to  that  felt  for  the  Author  of  being  himself.  Their  memory 
is  still  chei'ished.  Every  household  has  its  objects  of  devo- 
tion ;  every  dwelling  has  its  shrine  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
the  dead ;  and  no  temple  or  pagoda  is  more  truly  holy  ground 
than  the  cemeteries,  often  laid  out  on  hill-sides,  where  reposes 
the  dust  of  former  generations.  To  these  they  make  fre- 
quent pilgrimages.  Every  year  the  Emperor  of  China  goes 
in  state  to  visit  the  tombs  of  his  ancestors.  The  poor  emi- 
grant who  leaves  for  America  or  Australia,  gives  a  part  of 
his  earnings,  so  that,  in  case  of  death,  his  body  shall  be  brought 
back  to  China  to  sleep  in  the  soil  that  contains  the  dust  of 
his  ancestors.  Thus  the  living  are  joined  to  the  dead;  and 
those  who  have  vanished  from  the  earth,  from  the  silent  hills 
where  they  sleep,  still  rule  the  most  populous  kingdom  of 
the  world. 

One  cannot  leave  China  without  a  word  in  regard  to  its 
relations  with  other  countries.  In  this  respect  a  great 
change  has  taken  place  within  this  generation.  The  old  ex- 
clusiveness  is  broken  down.  This  has  come  by  war.  and  war 
which  had  not  always  a  justifiable  origin,  however  good  may 
have  been  its  effects.  The  opium  war  in  1841  is  not  a  thing 
to  be  remembered  by  Engl  arid  witli  pride.  The  cause  of  that 
war  was  an  attempt  by  the  Chinese  government  in  1839  to 
prevent  the  English  importation  of  opium.  Never  did  a 
government  make  a  more  determined  effort  to  remove  a 
terrible  curse  that  was  destroying  its  population.  Seeing  the 
evil  in  all  its  enormity,  it  roused  itself  Like  a  strong  man  to 
shake  it  off.  It  imposed  heavy  penalties  on  the  use  of  opium, 
even  going  so  far  as  to  put  some  to  death.  But  what  could  it 
do  so  long  as  foreigners  were  selling  ojjium  in  Canton,  right 
before  its  eyes  ?  It  resolved  to  break  up  the  trade,  to  stop  the 
importation.  As  a  last  resort,  it  drew  a  cordon  around  the 
factories  of  the  foreign  merchants,  and  brought  them  to 
terms  by  a  truly  Eastern  strategy.  It  did  not  attack  them, 
nor  touch  a  bail'  of  their  heads ;  but  it  assumed  that  it  had 


390  THE   OPIUM    WAK. 

at  least  the  right  to  exercise  its  authority  over  its  own  people, 
by  forbidding  them  to  have  any  intercourse  with  foreigners. 
Immediately  every  Chinese  servant  left  them.  No  man 
could  be  had,  for  love  or  money,  to  render  them  any  service, 
or  even  to  sell  them  food.  Thus  they  were  ^^[I•tually  pris- 
oners. This  state  of  siege  lasted  about  six  weeks.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  the  British  merchants  surrendered  all  the 
opium,  at  the  order  of  their  consular  chief,  Charles  Elliot,  for 
him  to  hand  it  over  to  the  Chinese;  it  amounted  to  20,283 
chests  (nearly  three  million  pounds  in  weight),  mostly  on 
board  ship  at  the  time.  The  Chinese  received  it  at  the 
movith  of  the  river,  near  the  Bogue  Forts,  and  there  destroyed 
it,  by  throwing  it  overboard,  as  our  fathers  destroyed  the 
tea  in  Boston  harbor.  To  make  sure  work  of  it,  lest  it 
should  be  recovered  and  used,  they  broke  open  the  chests 
and  mixed  it  thoroughly  with  salt  water.  As  it  dissolved  in 
the  sea,  it  killed  great  quantities  of  fish,  but  that  opium  at 
least  never  killed  any  Chinamen. 

This  brought  on  war.  Much  has  been  said  of  other 
causes,  but  no  one  familiar  with  affairs  in  the  East  doxibts 
that  the  controlling  motive  was  a  desire  to  force  upon  China 
the  trade  in  opium  which  is  one  chief  source  of  the  revenue 
of  India. 

The  war  lasted  two  years,  and  ended  in  a  complete  victory 
for  the  foreigners.  The  Bogue  Forts  were  bombarded,  and 
foreign  ships  forced  their  way  up  the  river.  Canton  was 
ransomed  just  as  it  was  to  have  been  attacked,  but  Amoy, 
Ningpo,  Shanghai,  and  Chinkiang  were  assaulted  and  cap- 
tured. The  war  was  finally  terminated  in  1842  by  a  treaty, 
by  the  terms  of  which  China  paid  to  England  six  millions  of 
dollars  for  the  opium  which  had  been  destroyed,  and  opened 
five  ports  to  foreign  trade.  This,  though  a  gain  to  European 
and  Indian  commerce,  was  a  heavy  blow  to  Canton,  which, 
instead  of  being  the  only  open  port,  was  but  one  of  five. 
The  trade,  which  before   had  been  concentrated  hero,  now 


ENGLAND   PKES8ING   CHINA   TO   THE   WALL.  391 

spread  along  the  coast  to  Amoy,  Fuhchau,  Ningpo,  and 
Shanghai. 

But  the  Ruler  of  Nations  brings  good  out  of  evil.  Wrong 
as  was  the  motive  of  the  opium  war,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  sooner  or  later  war  must  have  come  from  the  attitude 
of  China  toward  European  nations.  For  ages  it  had  main- 
tained a  policy  of  exclusiveness.  The  rest  of  the  world  were 
"  outside  barbarians."  It  repelled  their  advances,  not  only 
with  firmness,  but  almost  with  insult.  While  keeping  this 
attitude  of  resistance,  as  foreign  commerce  was  continually 
knocking  at  its  doors,  a  collision  was  inevitable.  Recogniz- 
ing this,  we  cannot  bub  regret  that  it  should  have  occurred 
for  a  cause  in  which  China  was  in  the  right,  and  England  in 
the  wrong. 

In  the  wars  of  England  and  Fi-ance  ^ith  China,  Europe 
has  fought  with  Asia,  and  has  gotten  the  victory.  Will  it 
be  content  with  what  it  has  gained,  or  will  it  press  still 
further,  and  force  China  to  the  wall  ?  This  is  the  qiiestion 
which  I  heard  asked  everywhere  in  Eastern  Asia.  The 
English  merchants  find  their  interests  thwarted  by  the  obsti- 
nate conservatism  of  the  Chinese,  and  would  be  glad  of  an 
opportunity  for  a  naval  or  military  demonstration — an  occa- 
sion which  the  Chinese  are  very  careful  not  to  give.  There 
is  an  English  fleet  at  Hong  Kong,  a  few  hours'  sail  from 
Canton.  The  admiral  who  was  to  take  command  came  out 
with  us  on  the  steamer  from  Singapoi-e.  He  was  a  gallant 
seaman,  and  seemed  like  a  man  who  would  not  willingly  do 
injustice ;  and  yet  I  think  his  English  blood  would  rise  at 
the  prospect  of  glory,  if  he  were  to  receive  an  order  from 
London  to  transfer  his  fleet  to  the  Canton  River,  and  lay  it 
abreast  of  the  city,  or  to  force  his  way  up  the  Pei-ho.  The 
English  merchants  would  hail  such  an  appearance  in  these 
waters.  Not  content  with  the  fifteen  ports  which  they  have 
now,  they  want  the  whole  of  China  opened  to  trade.  But 
the  Chinese  think  they  have  got  enough  of  it,  and  to  any 


892  FKIENDLY    ATTITUDE   OF   AMEEICA. 

further  invasion  oppose  a  quiet  but  steady  resistance.  The 
English  are  impatient.  They  want  to  force  an  entrance,  and 
to  introduce  not  only  the  goods  of  Manchester,  but  all  the 
modern  improvements — to  have  railroads  all  over  China,  as 
in  India,  and  steamers  on  all  the  rivers ;  and  they  think  it 
very  unreasonable  that  the  Chinese  object.  But  there  is 
another  side  to  this  question.  Such  changes  would  disturb 
the  whole  internal  commerce  of  China.  They  would  throw 
out  of  employment,  not  thousands  nor  tens  of  tliousands,  but 
millions,  who  would  perish  in  such  an  economical  and  indus- 
trial revolution  as  surely  as  by  the  waters  of  a  deluge.  An 
English  missionary  at  Canton  told  me  that  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  make  any  sudden  changes,  such  as  would  be  in- 
volved in  the  general  introduction  of  railroads,  or  of  labor- 
saving  machines  in  place  of  the  labor  of  human  hands,  with- 
out inflicting  immense  suffering.  There  are  millions  of 
people  who  now  keep  their  heads  just  above  water,  and  that 
by  standing  on  their  toes  and  stretching  their  necks,  who 
would  be  drowned  if  it  should  rise  an  inch  higher.  The 
least  agitation  of  the  waters,  and  they  wo\ild  be  submerged. 
Can  we  wonder  that  they  hesitate  to  be  sacrificed,  and  beg 
their  government  to  move  slowly  ? 

America  has  had  no  part  in  the  wars  with  China,  although 
it  is  said  that  in  the  attack  on  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Pei-ho,  when  the  English  ships  were  hard  jjressed,  American 
sailors  went  on  board  of  one  of  them,  and  volunteered  to 
serve  at  the  guns,  whether  from  pure  love  of  the  excitement 
of  battle,  or  because  they  felt,  as  Commodore  Tatnall  ex- 
pressed it,  that  "  blood  was  thicker  than  water,"  is  not  re- 
corded.*  American  sailors  and  soldiers  will  never  be  wanting 


*  As  this  incident  has  excited  a  great  deal  of  interest,  I  am  happy 
to  give  it  as  it  occurred  from  an  eye-vsitness.  One  who  was  on  board 
of  Commodore  Tatnall's  ship  writes  : 

"  I  was  present  at  the  battle  in  the  Pei-ho  in  1859,  and  know  all 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARIES.  393 

in  any  cause  which  concerns  their  country's  interest  and 
honor.  But  hitherto  it  has  been  our  good  fortune  to  come 
into  no  armed  collision  with  the  Chinese,  and  hence  the  Amer- 
ican name  is  in  favor  along  the  coast.  Our  country  is  rep- 
resented, not  so  much  by  ships  of  war  as  by  merchants  and 
missionaries.  The  latter,  though  few  in  number,  by  their 
wisdom  as  well  as  zeal,  have  done  much  to  conciliate  favor 
and  command  respect.  They  are  not  meddlers  nor  mischief- 
makers.  They  do  not  belong  to  the  nation  that  has  forced 
opium  upon  China,  though  often  obliged  to  hear  the  taunt 
that  is  hurled  against  the  whole  of  the  English-speaking  race. 
In  their  own  quiet  spheres,  they  have  labored  to  diflFuse 
knowledge  and  to  exhibit  practical  Christianity.  They  have 
opened  schools  and  hospitals,  as  well  as  churches.  In  Canton, 
a  generation  ago,  Dr.  Peter  Parker  opened  a  hospital,  which 
is  still  continued,  and   which  receives  about  nine  hundred 

the  particulars.  Admiral  Hope  having  been  wounded,  was  urged  to 
bring  up  the  marines  before  sunset,  and  sent  his  aid  doAvn  to  take 
them  off  the  three  junks,  where  they  were  waiting  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  The  aid  came  on  board  the  "  Toeywan  "  to  see  Commo- 
dore Tatnall,  tell  him  the  progress  of  the  battle,  and  what  he  had 
been  sent  down  for,  adding  that,  as  the  tide  was  running  out,  it 
would  be  hard  work  getting  up  again.  As  he  went  on,  Tatnall  began 
to  get  restless,  and  turning  to  me  (I  sat  next),  said  :  '  Blood  is  thicker 
than  water;  I  don't  care  if  they  do  take  away  my  commission.' 
Then  turning  to  his  own  flag-Ueutenant  at  the  other  end  of  the  table, 
he  said  aloud  :  '  Get  up  steam  ; '  and  everything  was  ready  for  a  start 
in  double-quick  time.  When  all  was  prepared,  the  launches,  full  of 
marines,  were  towed  into  action  by  the  ''  Toeywan"  ;  and  casting 
them  off,  the  Commodore  left  in  his  barge  to  go  on  board  the  British 
flag-ship,  to  see  the  wounded  Admiral.  On  the  way  his  barge  was 
hit,  his  coxswain  killed,  and  the  rest  just  managed  to  get  on  board 
the  "  Lee  "  before  their  boat  sunk,  owing  their  lives  probably  to 
his  presence  of  mind.  It  was  only  the  men  in  this  boat's  crew  who 
helped  to  work  the  British  guns.  I  suppose  Tatnall  never  meant  his 
words  to  be  repeated,  but  Hope's  aid  overheard  them,  and  thus  im- 
mortalized them." 
17* 


304 


AMERICAN   MISSIONAKIES. 


every  year  into  its  wards,  besides  some  fifteen  thousand  who 
are  treated  at  the  doors.  For  twenty  years  it  was  in  charge 
of  Dr.  Kerr,  who  nearly  wore  himself  out  in  his  duties ;  and 
is  now  succeeded  by  Dr.  Carrow,  a  young  physician  who  left 
a  good  practice  in  Jersey  City  to  devote  himself  to  this  work. 
Hundreds  undergo  operation  for  the  stone — a  disease  quite 
common  in  the  South,  but  which  Chinese  surgery  is  incom- 
petent to  treat — and  who  are  here  rescued  from  a  lingering 
death.  That  is  the  way  American  Christianity  should  be 
represented  in  China.  In  Calcutta  I  saw  the  great  opium 
ships  bound  for  Hong  Kong.  Let  England  have  a  monopoly 
of  that  trade,  but  let  America  come  to  China  with  healing 
in  one  hand  and  the  Gosjiel  in  the  other. 

Nor  is  this  all  which  American  missionaries  have  done. 
They  have  rendered  a  service — not  yet  noticed  as  it  should 
be — to  literature,  and  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  intercourse 
of  China  with  other  nations.  An  American  missionary,  Dr. 
Martin,  is  President  of  the  University  at  Peking,  established 
by  the  government.  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  in  the  more 
than  forty  years  of  his  residence  in  China,  has  prepared  a 
Chinese-English  Dictionary,  which  I  heard  spoken  of  every- 
where in  the  East  as  the  best  in  existence.  In  other  ways 
his  knowledge  of  the  language  and  the  people  has  been  of 
service  both  to  China  and  to  America,  during  his  twenty-one 
years'  connection  with  the  Legation.  And  if  American 
diplomacy  has  succeeded  in  gaining  many  substantial  advan- 
tages for  our  country,  while  it  has  skilfully  avoided  wound- 
ing the  susceptibilities  of  the  Chinese,  the  success  is  due  in 
no  small  degree  to  this  modest  American  missionary. 

De  Quincey  said  if  he  were  to  live  in  China,  he  should  go 
mad.  No  wonder.  The  free  English  spirit  could  not  be  so 
confined.  There  is  something  in  this  enormous  population, 
weighed  down  with  the  conservatism  of  ages,  that  oppresses 
the  intellect.  It  is  a  forced  stagnation.  China  is  a  bound- 
less and  a  motionless  ocean.     Its  own  people  may  not  feel  it, 


THE   DEAD   SEA   STIRRING.  395 

but  one  accustomed  to  tlie  free  life  of  Europe  looks  upon  it 
as  a  vast  Dead  Sea,  in  whose  leaden  waters  nothing  can  live. 
But  even  this  Dead  Sea  is  beginning  to  stir  with  life. 
There  is  a  heaving,  as  when  the  Polar  Ocean  breaks  up,  and 
the  libei'ated  waves  sweep  far  and  wide — 

*'  Swinging  low  with  sullen  roar." 

Such  is  the  sound  which  is  beginning  to  be  heard  on  all  the 
shores  of  Asia.  Since  foreigners  have  begun  to  come  into 
China,  the  Chinese  go  abroad  more  than  ever  before.  There 
is  developed  a  new  spirit  of  emigration.  Not  only  do  thej 
come  to  California,  but  go  to  Australia,  and  to  all  the  islands 
of  Southern  Asia.  They  are  the  most  enterprising  as  well  as 
the  most  industrious  of  emigrants.  They  have  an  extraor- 
dinary aptitude  for  commerce.  They  are  in  the  East  what 
the  Jews  are  in  other  parts  of  the  world — the  money-changers, 
the  mercantile  class,  the  petty  ti-aders ;  and  wherever  they 
come,  they  are  sure  to  "  pick  up  "  and  to  "  go  ahead."  Who 
can  put  bounds  to  such  a  race,  that  not  content  with  a  quar- 
ter of  Asia,  overflows  so  much  of  the  remaining  parts  of  the 
Eastern  hemisphere  ? 

On  our  Pacific  Coast  the  Chinese  have  appeared  as  yet  only 
as  laborers  and  servants,  or  as  attempting  the  humblest  in- 
dustries. Their  reception  has  not  been  such  as  we  can  regard 
with  satisfaction  and  pride.  Poor  John  Chinaman  !  Patient 
toiler  on  the  railroad  or  in  the  mine,  yet  doomed  to  be  kicked 
about  in  the  land  whose  prosperity  he  has  done  so  much  to 
promote.  There  is  something  very  touching  in  his  love  for 
his  native  country — a  love  so  strong  that  he  desires  even  in 
death  to  be  carried  back  to  be  buried  in  the  land  which  gave 
him  birth.  Some  return  living,  only  to  tell  of  a  treatment 
in  strange  contrast  with  that  which  our  countrymen  have  re- 
ceived in  China,  as  well  as  in  violation  of  the  solemn  obliga- 
tions of  treaties.  We  cannot  think  of  this  cruel  persecution 
but  with  indignation  at  our  country's  shame. 


396     "the  moon  shines  bkight  amid  the  firs." 

No  one  can  visit  China  without  becoming  interested  in  the 
conntry  and  its  people.  There  is  much  that  is  good  in  the 
Chinese,  in  their  patient  industry,  and  in  their  strong  do- 
mestic feeling.  Who  can  but  respect  a  people  that  honor 
their  fathers  and  mothers  in  a  way  to  furnish  an  example  to 
the  whole  Christian  world?  who  indeed  exaggerate  their 
reverence  to  such  a  degree  that  they  even  worship  their  an- 
cestors ?  The  mass  of  the  people  are  miserably  poor,  but 
they  do  not  murmur  at  their  lot.  They  take  it  patiently,  and 
even  cheerfully  j  for  they  see  in  it  a  mixture  of  dark  and 
bright.  In  their  own  beautiful  and  poetical  saying :  "  The 
moon  shines  bright  amid  the  firs."  May  it  not  only  shine 
through  the  gloom  of  deep  forests,  but  rise  higher  and  higher, 
till  it  casts  a  flood  of  light  over  the  whole  Eastern  sky  I 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THKEE    WEEKS   IN   JAPAN. 

We  left  Hong  Kong  on  the  15th  of  May,  just  one  year 
from  the  day  that  we  sailed  from  New  York  on  our  journey 
around  the  world.  As  we  completed  these  twelve  months, 
we  embarked  on  ovir  twelfth  voyage.  After  being  so  long 
on  foreign  ships — English  and  French  and  Dutch :  Austrian 
Lloyds  and  Messageries  IVIaritimes — it  was  pleasant  to  be  at 
last  on  one  that  bore  the  flag  of  our  country,  and  bore  it  so 
proudly  as  "  The  City  of  Peking."  As  we  stepped  on  her 
deck,  and  looked  up  at  the  stars  above  us,  we  felt  that  we 
were  almost  on  the  soil  of  our  country.  As  we  were  now 
approaching  America,  though  still  over  six  thousand  miles 
away,  and  nearly  ten  thousand  from  New  York,  we  thought 
it  was  time  to  telegraph  that  we  were  coming,  but  found  that 
"the  longest  way  round  was  the  nearest  way  home."  The 
direct  cable  across  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  from  Penang  to  Ma- 
dras, was  broken,  and  the  message  had  to  go  by  Siberia.  It 
seemed  indeed  a  long,  long  way,  but  the  lightning  regards 
neither  space  nor  time.  Swift  as  thought  the  message  flew 
up  the  coast  of  China  to  Siberia,  and  then  across  the  whole 
breadth  of  two  continents,  Asia  and  Europe,  and  dived  under 
the  Atlantic,  to  come  up  on  the  shores  of  America. 

The  harbor  of  Hong  Kong  was  gay  with  ships  decorated 
with  flags,  and  the  British  fleet  was  still  filing  salutes,  which 
seemed  to  be  its  daily  pastime,  as  the  City  of  Peking  began 
to  move.  With  a  grand  sweep  she  circled  round  the  bay, 
and   then  running   swiftly   into  a  winding   passage  among 


398  VOYAGE   TO   JAPAN. 

islands,  through  which  is  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  steamed 
out  on  the  broad  Pacific. 

We  had  intended  to  go  to  Shanghai,  and  through  the  In- 
land Sea  of  Japan,  but  we  sacrificed  even  such  a  pleasure 
(or  ratlier  left  it  till  the  next  time)  to  take  advantage  of  this 
noble  ship,  that  was  bound  direct  for  Yokohama.  Our  course 
took  us  through  the  Channel  of  Formosa,  in  full  sight  of  the 
island,  which  has  had  an  unenviable  notoriety  from  the  treat- 
ment of  the  crews  of  ships  wrecked  on  its  inhospitable  coast. 
Leaving  it  far  behind,  in  six  days  we  were  running  along  the 
shores  of  Japan,  and  might  have  seen  the  snowy  head  of 
Fusiyama,  had  it  not  been  wrapped  in  clouds.  The  next 
morning  we  left  behind  the  long  roll  of  the  Pacific,  and 
entered  the  Bay  of  Yedo — a  gulf  fifty  miles  deep,  whose 
clear,  sparkling  waters  shone  in  the  sunlight.  Fishing-boats 
were  skimming  the  tranquil  surface.  The  Japanese  are  born 
to  the  sea.  All  around  the  coast  they  live  uj)on  it,  and  are 
said  to  derive  from  it  one-third  of  their  subsistence.  The 
shores,  sloping  from  the  water's  edge,  are  sprinkled  with 
Japanese  villages.  Some  thirty  miles  from  the  sea  we  pass 
Mississippi  Bay,  so  called  from  the  flag-ship  of  Commodore 
Perry,  which  lay  here  with  his  fleet  while  he  was  conducting 
the  negotiations  for  the  opening  of  Japan ;  the  headland 
above  it  bears  the  name  of  Treaty  Point.  Rounding  this 
point,  we  see  before  vis  in  the  distance  a  forest  of  shipping, 
and  soon  cast  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Yokohama. 

Yokohama  has  a  pleasant  look  from  the  sea,  an  impression 
increased  as  we  are  taken  oflf  in  a  boat,  and  landed  on  the 
quay — a  sea  wall,  which  keeps  out  the  waves,  and  furnishes 
a  broad  terrace  for  the  front  of  the  town.  Here  is  a  wide 
street  called  "  The  Bund,"  on  which  stand  the  principal 
hotels.  From  our  rooms  we  look  out  directly  on  the  harbor. 
Among  the  steamers  from  foreign  ports,  are  a  number  of 
ships  of  war,  among  which  is  the  Tennessee,  the  flagship  of 
our  Asiatic  squadron,  bearing  the  broad  pennant  of  Admiral 


TOKOHAJMA.  399 

Reynolds,  whom  we  had  known  in  America,  and  indeed  had 
bidden  good-by  at  our  own  door,  as  we  stepped  into  the  carriage 
to  drive  to  the  steamer.  We  parted,  hoping  to  meet  iu 
Asia,  a  wish  which  was  now  fulfilled.  He  was  very  cour- 
teous to  us  during  our  stay,  sending  his  boat  to  bring  us  on 
board,  and  coming  often  with  his  excellent  wife  to  see  us  on 
shore.  It  gave  us  a  pleasant  feeling  of  nearness  to  home,  to 
have  a  great  ship  full  of  our  countrymen  close  at  hand. 

In  the  rear  of  the  town  the  hill  which  overlooks  the  har- 
bor, bears  the  foreign  name  of  "  The  Bluff."  Here  is  quite 
an  American  colony,  including  several  missionary  families, 
in  which  we  became  very  much  at  home  before  we  left  Japan. 

Yokohama  has  an  American  newness  and  freshness.  It  is 
only  a  few  yeai"S  since  it  has  come  into  existence  as  a  place 
of  any  importance.  It  was  only  a  small  fishing  village  until 
the  opening  of  Japan,  since  which  it  has  become  the  chief 
port  of  foreign  commerce.  It  is  laid  out  in  convenient 
streets,  which  are  well  paved,  and  kept  clean,  and  altogether 
the  place  has  a  brisk  and  lively  air,  as  of  some  new  and 
thriving  town  in  our  own  country. 

But  just  at  this  moment  we  are  not  so  much  interested  to 
see  American  improvements  as  to  see  the  natives  on  their  own 
soil.  Here  they  are  in  all  their  glory — pure-blooded  Asiatics 
— and  yet  of  a  type  that  is  not  Mongolian  or  Malayan  or 
Indian.  The  Jap  is  neither  a  "  mild  Hindoo  "  nor  a  "  heathen 
Chinee."  His  hair  is  shaved  from  his  head  in  a  fashion  quite 
his  own,  making  a  sort  of  triangle  on  the  crown  ;  and  no  long 
pigtail  decorates  his  person  behind.  We  recognize  him  at 
once,  for  never  was  a  human  creature  so  exactly  like  his  por- 
trait. We  see  every  day  the  very  same  figures  that  we  have 
seen  all  our  lives  on  tea-cups  and  saucers,  and  fans  and 
boxes.  Our  first  acquaintance  with  them  was  as  charioteers, 
in  which  they  take  the  place,  not  of  drivers,  but  of  horses ; 
for  the  jin-riki-sha  (literally,  a  carriage  drawn  by  man  power) 
has  no  other  "  team  "  harnessed  to  it.    The  vehicle  is  exactly 


400  JIN-KIKI-SHAS. 

like  a  baby  carriage,  only  made  for  "  children  of  a  larger 
growth."  It  is  simply  an  enlarged  perambulator,  on  two 
wheels,  drawn  by  a  coolie  ;  and  when  one  takes  his  seat  in  it, 
he  cannot  help  feeling  at  first  as  if  he  were  a  big  baby,  whom 
his  nurse  had  tucked  up  and  was  taking  out  for  an  airing. 
But  one  need  not  be  afraid  of  it,  lest  he  break  down  the 
carriage,  or  tire  out  the  steed  that  draws  it.  No  matter  how 
great  your  excellency  may  be,  the  stout  fellow  will  take  up 
the  thills,  standing  where  the  pony  or  the  donkey  ought  to 
be,  and  trot  off  with  you  at  a  good  pace,  making  about  four 
miles  an  hour.  At  first  the  impression  was  irresistibly  ludi- 
crous, and  we  laughed  at  ourselves  to  see  what  a  ridiciilous 
figure  we  cut.  Indeed  we  did  not  qiiite  recover  our  sobriety 
dui-ing  the  three  weeks  that  we  were  in  Japan.  But  after  all 
it  is  a  very  convenient  way  of  getting  about,  and  one  at  least 
is  satisfied  that  his  horses  will  not  run  away,  though  he  must 
not  be  too  sure  of  that,  for  I  sometimes  felt,  especially  when 
going  down  hill,  that  they  had  got  loose,  and  would  land  me 
with  a  broken  head  at  the  bottom. 

But  Yokohama  is  only  the  gate  of  Yedo  (or  Tokio,  as  it  is 
the  fashion  to  call  it  now,  but  I  keep  to  the  old  style  as  more 
familiar),  of  which  we  had  read  even  in  our  school  geogra- 
phies as  one  of  the  most  populous  cities  of  Asia.  The  access 
is  very  easy,  for  it  is  only  eighteen  miles  distant,  and  there  is 
a  railroad,  so  that  it  is  but  an  hour's  ride.  While  on  our 
way  that  morning,  we  had  our  first  sight  of  Fusiyama. 
Though  seventy  miles  distant,  its  dome  of  snow  rose  on  the 
horizon  sharp  and  clear,  like  the  Jungfrau  at  Interlachen. 

Arrived  at  Yedo,  the  station  was  surrounded  hjjinrikishas, 
whose  masters  were  kept  in  better  order  than  the  cabmen  of 
New  York.  Wishing  to  appear  in  the  capital  with  proper 
dignity,  we  took  two  men  instead  of  one,  so  that  each  had  a 
full  team;  and  fine  young  bloods  they  were,  full  of  spirit, 
that  fairly  danced  with  us  along  the  street,  in  such  gay  fash- 
ion that  my  clerical  garb  was  hardly  sufficient  to  preserve  my 


YEDO.  401 

clerical  character.  We  first  trotted  off  to  the  American 
Minister's,  Mr.  Bingham's,  who  received  us  with  all  courtesy, 
and  sent  for  the  interpreter  of  the  Legation,  Rev.  Mr. 
Thompson,  an  American  missionary,  who  kindly  offered  to 
be  our  guide  about  the  city,  and  gave  up  the  day  to  us.  With 
such  a  cicerone,  we  started  on  our  rounds.  He  took  us  first 
to  what  is  called  the  Summer  Palace,  though  it  is  not  a  pal- 
ace at  all,  but  only  a  park,  to  which  the  Mikado  comes  once 
in  a  while  to  take  his  royal  pleasure.  There  are  a  few  rest- 
houses  scattered  about,  where  one,  whether  king  or  common- 
er, might  find  repose ;  or  strolling  under  the  shade  of  trees, 
and  looking  off  upon  the  tranquil  sea.  Next  we  rode  to  the 
Tombs  of  the  Tycoons,  where,  under  gilded  shrines,  beneath 
temples  and  pagodas,  sleep  the  royal  dead.  The  grounds  are 
large  and  the  temples  exquisitely  finished,  with  the  fine  lacquer 
work  for  which  the  Japanese  are  famous ;  so  that  we  had  to 
take  off  our  shoes,  and  step  very  softly  over  the  polished 
floors.  Riding  on  through  endless  streets,  our  friend  took  us 
to  a  hill,  ascended  by  a  long  flight  of  steps,  on  the  top  of 
which,  in  an  open  space,  stood  a  temple,  an  arbor,  and  a  tea- 
house. This  point  commands  an  extensive  view  of  Yedo. 
It  is  a  city  of  magnificent  distances,  spreading  out  for  miles 
on  every  side  ;  and  yet,  except  for  its  extent,  it  is  not  at  all 
imposing,  for  it  is,  like  Canton,  a  mere  wilderness  of  houses, 
relieved  by  no  architectural  magnificence — not  a  single  lofty 
tower  or  dome  rising  above  the  dead  level.  But,  unlike 
Canton,  the  city  has  very  broad  streets,  sometimes  crossed 
by  a  river  or  a  canal,  spanned  by  high,  arched  bridges.  The 
principal  business  street  is  much  wider  than  Broadway,  but 
it  has  not  a  shop  along  its  whole  extent  that  would  make  any 
show  even  in  "  The  Bowery."  The  houses  are  built  only  one 
story  high,  because  of  earthquakes  which  are  frequent  in 
Japan,  caused,  as  the  people  believe,  by  a  huge  fish  which 
lies  under  the  island,  and  that  shakes  it  whenever  he  tosses 
his  head  or  lashes  his  tail.     The  houses  are  of  such  sli>'ht 


402  TEDO. 

construction  that  they  burn  like  tinder;  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  city  is  often  swept  by  destructive  fires.  But 
if  the  whole  place  were  thus  swept  away,  or  if  it  were  shaken 
to  pieces  by  au  earthquake  in  the  night,  the  people  would 
pick  themselves  up  in  the  morning  and  restore  their  dwell- 
ings, with  not  much  more  difficulty  than  soldiers,  whose 
tents  had  been  blown  down  by  the  wind,  would  find  in  pitch- 
ing them  again  and  making  another  camp.  Some  of  the 
government  buildings  are  of  more  stately  proportions,  and 
there  are  open  grounds  in  certain  quarters  of  the  city,  adorned 
with  magnificent  trees,  like  the  ancient  oaks  which  cast  their 
shadows  on  the  smooth-shaven  lawns  of  England,  and  give 
to  English  parks  such  an  air  of  dignity  and  repose. 

The  Castle  of  the  late  Tycoon,  which  may  be  said  to  be  the 
heart  of  the  city,  around  which  it  clusters,  is  more  of  a  fortress 
than  a  palace.  There  is  an  immense  enclosure  surrounded  by 
a  deep  moat  (whose  sides  are  very  pretty,  banked  with  rich 
green  turf),  and  with  picturesque  old  towers  standing  at  inter- 
vals along  the  walls.  In  the  rear  of  the  grounds  of  the  old  Cas- 
tle is  the  much  less  ambitious  residence  of  the  Mikado,  where 
he  is  duly  guarded,  though  he  does  not  now,  as  formerly, 
keep  himself  invisible,  as  if  he  were  a  divinity  descended  from 
the  skies,  who  in  mysterious  seclusion  ruled  the  affairs  of  men. 

By  this  time  we  were  a  little  weary  of  sight-seeing,  and 
drew  up  at  a  Japanese  tea-house,  to  take  our  tiffin.  The 
place  was  as  neat  as  a  pin,  and  the  little  maids  came  out  to 
receive  us,  and  bowed  themselves  to  the  ground,  touching 
the  earth  with  their  foreheads,  in  token  of  the  great  honor 
that  had  come  to  their  house — homage  that  we  received  with 
becoming  dignity,  and  went  on  our  way  rejoicing. 

The  pleasantest  sights  that  we  saw  to-day  were  two  which 
showed  the  awakened  intelligence  and  spirit  of  progress 
among  the  people.  These  were  the  Government  College, 
with  two  hundred  students,  manned  in  part  by  American 
professors    (where   we  found   our   countryman  Dr.   Yeeder 


EXCURSION   INTO   THE   INTERIOK.  403 

in  his  lecture-room,  performing  experiments) ;  and  an  old 
Temple  of  Confucins  which  has  been  turned  into  a  library 
and  reading-room.  Here  was  a  large  collection  of  books  and 
periodicals,  many  from  foreign  countries,  over  which  a  num- 
ber of  persons  were  quietly  but  studiously  engaged.  The 
enclosux-e  was  filled  with  grand  old  trees,  and  had  the  air  of 
an  academic  grove,  whose  silent  shades  were  devoted  to  study 
and  learning. 

After  this  first  visit  to  the  capital,  we  took  a  week  for  an 
excursion  into  the  interior,  which  gave  iis  a  sight  of  the 
country  and  of  Japanese  life.  This  we  could  not  have  made 
with  any  satisfaction  but  for  our  friends  the  missionaries. 
They  kindly  sketched  the  outlines  of  a  trip  to  the  base  of 
Fusiyama,  seventy  miles  from  Yedo.  It  was  very  tempting, 
but  what  could  we  do  without  guides  or  interpreters  ?  We 
should  be  lost  like  babes  in  the  wood.  It  occurred  to  us 
that  such  a  journey  might  do  them  good.  Dr.  Brown  and 
Dr.  Hepbui-n,  the  oldest  missionaries  in  Japan,  had  been 
closely  confined  for  months  in  translating  the  Scriptures,  and 
needed  some  relief.  A  little  country  air  woiild  give  them 
new  life  ;  so  we  invited  them  to  be  our  guests,  and  we  would 
make  a  week  of  it.  We  finally  prevailed  upon  them  to  "  come 
apart  and  rest  awhile,"  not  in  a  "  desert,"  but  in  woodland 
shades,  among  the  mountains  and  by  the  sea.  Their  wives 
came  with  them,  without  whom  their  presence  would  have 
given  us  but  half  the  pleasure  it  did.  Thus  encompassed  and 
fortified  with  the  best  of  companions,  ^vith  a  couple  of  Eng- 
lish friends,  we  made  a  party  of  eight,  which,  with  the  usual 
impedimenta  of  provisions  and  a  cook,  and  extra  shawls  and 
blankets,  required  eleven  jinrikishus,  with  two  men  har- 
nessed to  each,  making  altogether  quite  a  grand  cavalcade, 
as  we  sallied  forth  from  Yokohama  on  a  Monday  noon  in 
"  high  feather."  To  our  staid  missionary  friends  it  was  an 
old  story ;  but  to  us,  strangers  in  the  land,  it  was  highly  ex- 
citing to  be  thus  starting  off  into  the  interior  of  Japan.     The 


404  EXCURSION    INTO    THIO   INTKRIOK. 

country  around  Yokohama  is  hilly  aud  broken.  Our  way 
wound  through  a  succession  of  valleys  rich  with  fields  of 
rice  and  barley,  while  along  the  roads  shrubberies,  which  at 
home  are  cultivated  with  great  care,  grew  in  wild  profusion 
— the  wisteria,  the  honeysuckle,  and  the  eglantine.  The  suc- 
cession of  hill  and  valley  gave  to  the  country  a  variety  and 
beauty  which,  with  the  high  state  of  cultivation,  reminded 
us  of  Java.  As  we  mounted  the  hills  we  had  glimpses  of 
the  sea,  for  we  were  skirting  along  the  Bay  of  Yedo.  After 
a  few  miles  we  came  to  an  enchanting  spot,  which  bears  the 
ambitious  title  of  the  Plains  of  Heaven,  yet  which  is  not 
heaven,  and  is  not  even  a  plain — but  a  rolling  country,  in 
which  hill  and  valley  are  mingled  together,  with  the  purple 
mountains  as  a  background  on  one  side  aud  the  blue  waters 
on  the  other. 

As  we  rode  along,  I  thought  how  significant  was  the  simple 
fact  of  such  an  excursion  as  this  in  a  country,  where  a  few 
years  ago  no  foreigner's  life  was  safe.  On  this  very  road, 
less  than  ten  years  since,  an  Englishman  was  cut  down  for 
no  other  crime  than  that  of  being  a  foreigner,  and  getting  in 
the  way  of  the  high  daimio  who  was  passing.  And  now  we 
jogged  along  as  quietly,  and  with  as  little  apprehension,  as 
if  we  were  riding  through  the  villages  of  New  England. 

On  our  way  lies  a  town  which  once  bore  a  great  name,  Kama- 
kura,  where  nine  centuries  ago  lived  the  great  Yoritomo,  the 
Napoleon  of  his  day,  the  founder  of  the  military  rule  in  the 
person  of  the  Shogun  (or  Tycoon,  a  title  but  lately  assumed), 
as  distinguished  from  that  of  the  Mikado.  Here  he  made 
his  capital,  which  was  afterwards  removed,  and  about  three 
hundred  years  since  fixed  in  Yedo ;  and  Kamakura  is  left, 
like  other  decayed  capitals,  to  live  on  the  recollections  of 
its  former  greatness.  But  no  change  can  take  away  its 
natural  beauty,  in  its  sheltered  valley  near  the  sea. 

A  mile  beyond,  we  came  to  the  colossal  image  of  Dai-Buts, 
or  Great  Buddha.     It  is  of  bronze,  and  though  in  a  sitting 


DAI-BUTS.  405 

* 

posture,  is  forty-four  feet  high.  The  hands  are  crossed  upon 
the  knees.  We  crawled  up  into  his  lap,  and  five  of  us  sat 
side  by  side  on  his  thumbs.  We  even  went  inside,  and 
climbed  up  into  his  head,  and  proved  by  inspection  that 
these  idols,  however  colossal  and  imposing  without,  ai'e 
empty  within.  There  are  no  brains  within  their  brazen 
skulls.  The  expression  of  the  face  is  the  same  as  in  all 
statues  of  Buddha :  that  of  repose — passive,  motionless — as 
of  one  who  had  passed  through  the  struggles  of  life,  and  at- 
tained to  Nirvana,  the  state  of  perfect  calm,  which  is  the 
j)ei'fection  of  heavenly  beatitude. 

It  was  now  getting  towards  sunset,  and  we  had  still  five 
or  six  miles  to  go  before  we  reached  our  resting-place  for  the 
night.  As  this  was  the  last  stage  in  the  journey,  our  fleet 
coursers  seemed  resolved  to  show  us  what  they  could  do. 
They  had  cast  off  all  their  garments,  except  a  cloth  around 
their  loins,  and  straw  sandals  on  their  feet,  so  that  they  were 
stripped  like  Roman  gladiators,  and  they  put  forth  a  speed 
as  if  racing  in  the  arena.  A  connoisseur  would  admire  their 
splendid  physique.  Their  bodies  were  tattooed,  like  South 
Sea  Islanders,  which  set  out  in  bolder  relief,  as  in  savage 
warriors,  their  muscular  development — their  broad  chests 
and  brawny  limbs.  With  no  stricture  of  garments  to  bind 
them,  their  limbs  were  left  free  for  motion.  It  was  a  study 
to  see  how  they  held  themselves  erect.  With  heads  and 
chests  thrown  back,  they  balanced  themselves  perfectly.  The 
weight  of  the  carriage  seemed  nothing  to  them ;  they  had 
only  to  keep  in  motion,  and  it  followed.  Thus  we  came 
rushing  into  the  streets  of  Fujisawa,  and  drew  up  before  the 
tea-house,  where  lodgings  had  been  ordered  for  the  night. 
The  whole  family  turned  out  to  meet  us,  the  women  falling 
on  their  knees,  and  bowing  their  heads  till  they  touched  the 
floor,  in  homage  to  the  greatness  of  their  guests. 

And  now  came  our  first  experience  of  a  Japanese  tea- 
house.     If  the  Jin-riki-sha  is  like  a  baby  carriage,  the   tea- 


406  TEMPLE   AT   FUJI8AWA. 

house  is  like  a  baby  house.  It  is  small,  built  entirely  of 
wood  with  sliding  partitions,  which  can  be  drawn,  like 
screens,  to  enclose  any  0])en  S2)ace,  and  make  it  into  a  room. 
These  partitions  are  of  paper,  so  that  of  course  the  "  cham- 
bers "  are  not  very  private.  The  same  material  is  used  for 
windows,  and  answers  very  well,  as  it  softens  the  light,  like 
ground  glass.  The  house  has  always  a  veranda,  so  that  the 
rooms  are  protected  from  the  sun  by  the  overhanging  roof. 
The  bedrooms  are  very  small,  biit  scrupulously  clean,  and 
covered  with  wadded  matting,  on  which  we  lie  down  to 
sleep. 

At  Fujisawa  is  a  temple,  which  is  visited  by  the  Mikado 
once  or  twice  in  the  year.  We  were  shown  through  his 
private  rooms,  and  one  or  two  of  us  even  stretched  ourselves 
upon  his  bed,  which,  however,  was  not  a  very  daring  feat,  as 
it  was  merely  a  strip  of  matting  raised  like  a  low  divan  or 
ottoman,  a  few  inches  above  the  floor.  The  temples  are  not 
imposing  structures,  and  have  no  beauty  except  that  of  posi- 
tion. They  generally  stand  on  a  hill,  and  are  approached  by 
an  avenue  or  a  long  flight  of  steps,  and  the  grounds  are  set 
out  with  trees,  which  are  left  to  grow  till  they  sometimes 
attain  a  majestic  height  and  breadth.  In  front  of  this  tem- 
ple stands  a  tree,  which  we  recognized  by  its  foliage  as  the 
Salishuria  adiantifolia  —  a  specimen  of  which  we  had  in 
America  on  our  own  lawn,  but  there  it  was  a  shrub  brought 
from  the  nursery,  while  here  it  was  like  a  cedar  of  Lebanon. 
It  was  said  to  be  a  thousand  years  old.  Standing  here,  it 
was  regarded  as  a  sacred  tree,  and  we  looked  up  to  it  with 
more  reverence  than  to  the  sombre  temple  behind,  or  the 
sleepy  old  bonzes  who  were  sauntering  idly  about  the 
grounds. 

The  next  morning,  as  we  started  on  our  journey,  we  came 
upon  the  Tokaido,  the  royal  road  of  Japan,  built  hundreds 
of  years  ago  from  Yedo  to  Kioto,  to  connect  the  political 
with  the  spiritual  capital — the  residence  of  the  Tycoon  with 


THE   TOKAIDO.  407 

that  of  the  Mikado.  It  is  the  highway  along  which  the 
daimios  came  in  state  to  pay  their  homage  to  the  Tycoon  at 
Yedo,  as  of  old  subject-priiices  came  to  Rome.  It  is  construct- 
ed with  a  good  deal  of  skill  in  engineering,  which  is  shown  in 
cai-rying  it  over  mountains,  and  in  the  building  of  bridges. 
Portions  of  the  road  are  paved  with  blocks  of  stone  like  the 
Appian  Way.  But  that  which  gives  it  a  glory  and  majesty 
all  its  own,  is  its  bordering  of  gigantic  cedars — the  Crypto- 
meria  Jiaponica — which  attain  an  enormous  height,  with 
gnarled  and  knotted  limbs  that  have  wrestled  with  the 
storms  of  centuries. 

As  we  advance,  the  road  comes  out  upon  the  sea,  for  we 
have  crossed  the  peninsula  which  divides  the  Bay  of  Yedo 
from  the  Pacific,  and  are  now  on  the  shores  of  the  ocean 
itself.  How  beautiful  it  seemed  that  day  !  It  was  the  last 
of  May,  and  the  atmosphere  was  full  of  the  warmth  of 
early  summer.  The  coast  is  broken  by  headlands  shooting 
out  into  the  deep,  which  enclose  bays,  where  the  soft,  warm 
sunshine  lingers  as  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
the  waters  of  the  mighty  Pacific  come  gently  rippling  up  the 
beach.  So  twixt  sea  and  land,  sunshine  and  shade,  we  sped 
gaily  along  to  Odawara — another  place  which  was  once  the 
residence  of  a  powerful  chief,  whose  castle  is  still  there, 
thougli  in  ruins ;  its  stones,  if  questioned  of  the  past,  might 
tell  a  tale  like  that  of  one  of  the  castles  on  the  Rhine.  These 
old  castles  are  the  monuments  of  the  same  form  of  govern- 
ment, for  the  Feudal  System  existed  in  Japan  as  in  Germany. 
The  kingdom  was  divided  into  provinces,  ruled  by  great  dai- 
mios, who  were  like  the  barons  of  the  Middle  Ages,  each  with 
his  armed  retainers,  who  might  be  called  upon  to  support 
the  central  government,  yet  who  sometimes  made  war  upon  it. 
This  Feudal  System  is  now  completely  destroyed.  As  we 
were  riding  over  the  Tokaido,  I  pictured  to  myself  the  gi-eat 
pageants  that  had  swept  along  so  proudly  in  the  days  gone 
by.     What   would  those  old  bai'ons  have   thought  if   they 


408  NEW    MODE    OF   TRANSPORTATION. 

could  have  seen  in  the  future  an  irruption  of  invaders  from 
beyond  the  sea,  and  that  even  this  king's  highway  should 
one  day  be  trodden  by  the  feet  of  outside  barbarians  ? 

At  Odawara  we  dismissed  our  men,  (who,  as  soon  as  they 
received  their  money,  started  off  for  Yokohama,)  as  we  had  to 
try  another  mode  of  transportation ;  for  though  we  still  kept 
the  Tokaido,  it  ascends  the  mountains  so  steeply  that  it  is 
impassable  for  anything  on  wheels,  and  we  had  to  exchange 
the  jinrikisha  for  the  kago — a  kind  of  basket  made  of  bam- 
boo, in  which  a  man  is  doubled  up  and  packed  like  a  bundle, 
and  so  carried  on  men's  shoulders.  It  would  not  answer 
badly  if  he  had  neither  head  nor  legs.  But  his  head  is 
always  knocking  against  the  ridge-pole,  and  his  legs  have  to  be 
twisted  under  him,  or  "tied  up  in  a  bow-knot."  This  is  the 
way  in  which  criminals  are  carried  to  execution  in  China  ; 
but  for  one  who  has  any  further  use  for  his  limbs,  it  is  not 
altogether  agreeable.  I  lay  passive  for  awhile,  feeling  as  if  I 
had  been  packed  and  salted  down  in  a  pork-barrel.  Then  I 
began  to  wriggle,  and  thrust  out  my  head  on  one  side  and  the 
other,  and  at  last  had  to  confess,  like  the  Irishman  who  was 
offered  the  privilege  of  working  his  passage  on  a  canal-boat 
and  was  set  to  leading  a  horse,  that  "  if  it  were  not  for  the 
honor  of  the  thing,  I  had  as  lief  walk."  So  I  crawled  out 
and  unrolled  myself,  to  see  if  my  limbs  were  still  there,  for 
they  were  so  benumbed  that  I  was  hardly  conscious  of  their 
existence,  and  then  straightening  myself  out,  and  taking  a 
long  bamboo  reed,  which  is  light  and  strong,  lithe  and  springy, 
for  an  alpenstock,  I  started  off  with  my  companions.  We  all 
soon  recovered  our  spirits,  and 

"  Walked  in  glory  and  in  joy 
Along  the  mountain  side," 

till  at  nightfall  we  halted  in  the  village  of  Hakone,  a  moun- 
tain retreat  much  resorted  to  by  foreigners  from  Yedo  and 
Yokohama. 


LAKE    AND   MOUNTAINS.  409 

Here  we  might  have  been  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland, 
for  we  were  in  the  heart  of  mountains,  and  on  the  border  of 
a  lake.  To  make  the  resemblance  more  perfect,  a  Scotch 
mist  hung  over  the  hills,  and  rain  pattered  on  the  roof  all 
night  long,  and  half  the  next  day.  But  at  noon  the  clouds 
broke,  and  we  started  on  our  journey.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brown 
and  Mrs.  Hepburn  kept  to  their  baskets,  and  were  borne  a 
long  way  round,  while  the  rest  of  us  were  rowed  across 
the  lake,  a  beautiful  sheet  of  watei',  nestled  among  the  hills, 
like  Loch  Katrine.  One  of  these  hiUs  is  tunnelled  for  two 
miles,  to  carry  the  water  under  it  to  irrigate  the  rice 
fields  of  some  twenty  villages.  Landing  on  the  other  side  of 
the  lake,  we  had  before  us  a  distance  of  eight  or  ten  miles. 
Our  coolies  stood  ready  to  carry  us,  but  all  preferred  the 
fi'eedom  of  their  unfettered  limbs.  The  mountain  is  volcanic, 
and  on  the  summit  is  a  large  space  made  desolate  by  frequent 
eruptions,  out  of  which  issues  smoke  laden  with  the  fumes  of 
sulphur,  and  hot  springs  throw  off  jets  of  steam,  and  boil  and 
bubble,  and  hiss  with  a  loud  noise,  as  if  all  the  furies  were 
pent  up  below,  and  spitting  out  their  rage  through  the 
fissures  of  the  rocks.  The  side  of  the  mountain  is  scarred 
and  torn,  and  yellow  with  sulphxir,  like  the  sides  of  Vesu- 
vius. The  natives  call  the  place  Hell.  It  was  rather  an 
abrupt  transition,  after  crossing  the  Plains  of  Heaven  a  day 
or  two  before,  to  come  down  so  soon  to  the  sides  of  the  pit. 

Towards  evening  we  came  down  into  the  village  of  Miya- 
no-shita  (what  musical  names  these  Japanese  have  !  ),  where 
our  friends  were  waiting  for  us,  and  over  a  warm  cup  of  tea 
talked  over  the  events  of  the  day.  This  is  a  favorite  resort, 
for  its  situation  among  the  mountains,  with  lovely  walks  on 
every  side,  and  for  its  hot  springs.  Water  is  brought  into 
the  hotel  in  pipes  of  bamboo,  so  hot  that  one  is  able  to  bear 
it  only  after  slowly  dipping  his  feet  into  it,  and  thus  sliding  in 
by  degrees,  when  the  sensation  is  as  of  being  scalded  aUve. 
But  it  takes  the  soreness  out  of  one's  limbs  weary  with  a  long 
18 


410  JAPANESE   WOMEN.  * 

day's  tramp ;  and  after  being  steamed  and  boiled,  we  stretch- 
ed ourselves  on  the  clean  mats  of  the  tea-house,  and  slept  the 
sleep  of  innocence  and  peace. 

One  cannot  go  anywhere  in  Japan  without  receiving  a 
visit  from  the  people,  who,  being  of  a  thrifty  turn,  seize  the 
occasion  of  a  stranger's  presence  to  drive  a  little  trade.  The 
skill  of  the  Japanese  is  quite  marvellous  in  certain  directions: 
They  make  everything  in  petto,  in  miniature — the  smallest 
earthenware  ;  the  tiniest  cups  and  saucers.  In  these  moun- 
tain villages  they  work,  like  the  Swiss,  in  wooden-ware,  and 
make  exquisite  and  dainty  little  boxes  and  bureaus,  as  if 
for  dolls,  yet  with  complete  sets  of  drawers,  which  could  not 
but  take  the  fancy  of  one  who  had  little  peojjle  at  home  wait- 
ing for  presents.  Besides  the  temptation  of  such  trinkets, 
who  could  resist  the  insinuating  manner  of  the  women  who 
brought  them  ?  The  Japanese  women  are  not  pretty.  They 
might  be,  were  it  not  for  their  odious  fashions.  We  have 
seen  faces  that  would  be  quite  handsome  if  left  in  their 
native,  unadorned  beauty.  But  fashion  rules  the  world  in 
Japan  as  in  Paris.  As  soon  as  a  woman  is  married  her  eye- 
brows are  shaved  off,  and  her  teeth  blackened,  so  that  she 
cannot  open  her  mouth  without  showing  a  row  of  ebony  in- 
stead of  ivory,  which  disfigures  faces  that  would  be  otherwise 
qviite  winning.  It  says  a  good  deal  for  their  address,  that 
with  such  a  feature  to  repel,  they  can  still  be  attractive. 
This  is  owing  wholly  to  their  manners.  The  Japanese  men 
and  women  are  a  light-hearted  race,  and  captivate  by  their 
gayety  and  friendliness.  The  women  were  always  in  a  merry 
mood.  As  soon  as  they  entered  the  room,  before  even  a 
word  was  spoken,  they  began  to  giggle,  as  if  our  appearance 
were  very  funny,  or  as  if  this  were  the  quickest  way  to  be  on 
good  terms  with  us.  The  effect  was  irresistible.  I  defy  the 
soberest  man  to  resist  it,  for  as  soon  as  your  visitor  laughs, 
you  begin  to  laugh  from  sympathy  ;  and  when  you  have  got 
into  a  heai-ty  laugh  together,  you  are  already  acquainted,  and 


TETING    TO    SEE   FUSIYAMA.  411 

in  friendly  relations,  and  the  work  of  buying  and  selling  goes 
on  easily.  They  took  us  captive  in  a  few  minutes.  We 
purchased  sparingly,  thinking  of  our  long  joui-ney ;  but  our 
English  friends  bought  right  and  left,  till  the  next  day  they 
had  to  load  two  pack-horses  with  boxes  to  be  carried  over 
the  mountains  to  Yokohama. 

The  next  day  was  to  bring  the  consummation  of  our  jour- 
ney, for  then  we  wei-e  to  go  up  into  a  mountain  and  see  the 
glory  of  the  Lord.  A  few  miles  distant  is  the  summit  of 
Otometoge,  from  which  one  obtains  a  view  of  Fusi3-ama, 
looking  full  in  iiia  awful  face.  We  started  with  misgivings, 
for  it  had  been  raining,  and  the  clouds  still  hung  low  upon 
the  mountains.  Our  way  led  through  hamlets  clustered  to- 
gether in  a  narrow  pass,  like  Alpine  villages.  As  we  wound 
up  the  ascent,  we  often  stopped  to  look  back  at  the  valley  be- 
low, from  which  rose  the  murmur  of  rushing  waters,  while 
the  sides  of  the  mountains  were  clothed  with  forests.  These 
rich  landscapes  gave  such  enchantment  to  the  scene  as  repaid 
us  for  all  our  weariness.  At  two  o'clock  we  reached  the 
top,  and  rushed  to  the  brow  to  catch  the  vision  of  Eusiyama, 
but  only  to  be  disappointed.  The  mountain  was  there,  but 
clouds  covered  his  hoary  liead.  In  vain  we  watched  and 
waited  ;  still  the  monarch  hid  his  face.  Clouds  were  round 
about  the  throne.  The  lower  ranges  stood  in  full  outline,  but 
the  heaven-piercing  dome,  or  pyramid  of  snow,  was  wrapped 
in  its  misty  shroud.  That  for  which  we  had  travelled  seventy 
miles,  we  could  not  see  at  last. 

Is  it  not  often  so  in  life  ?  The  moments  that  we  have 
looked  forward  to  with  highest  expectations,  are  disappoint- 
ing when  they  come.  W^e  cross  the  seas,  and  journey  far,  to 
reach  some  mount  of  vision,  when  lo  !  the  sight  that  was  to 
reward  us  is  hidden  from  our  eyes ;  while  our  highest  rap- 
tures come  to  us  unsought,  perhaps  in  visions  of  the  night. 

But  our  toilsome  climb  was  not  unrewarded.  Below  us 
lap  a  broad,  deep  valley,  to  which  the  rice  fields  gave  a  vivid 


412  KETUKN  BY  THE  TOKAIDO. 

green,  dotted  with  houses  and  villages,  which  were  scattered 
over  the  middle  distance,  and  even  around  the  base  of  Fusi- 
yama  himself.  Drinking  in  the  full  loveliness  of  the  scene, 
we  turned  to  descend,  and  after  a  three  hours'  march,  footsore 
and  weary,  entered  our  Alpine  village  of  Miya-no-shita. 

The  next  morning  we  set  out  to  return.  Had  the  day 
shone  bright  and  clear,  we  should  have  been  tempted  to  re- 
new our  ascent  of  the  day  before.  But  as  the  clouds  were 
still  over  the  sky,  we  reluctantly  turned  away.  Taking  an- 
other route  from  that  by  which  we  came,  we  descended  a  deep 
valley,  and  winding  around  the  heights  which  we  had  crossed 
before,  at  eleven  o'clock  reentered  Odawara. 

And  now  we  had  done  with  our  marching  and  our  kagos, 
and  once  more  took  to  our  chariots,  which  drew  up  to  the 
door — the  men  not  exactly  saddled  and  bridled,  but  stripped 
for  the  race,  with  no  burden  added  to  the  burden  of  the  flesh 
which  they  had  to  carry.  A  crowd  collected  to  see  us  dej^art, 
and  looked  on  admiringly  as  we  went  dashing  through  the 
long  street  of  Odawara,  and  out  upon  the  Tokaido.  Our 
way,  as  before,  led  by  the  sea,  which  was  in  no  tempestuous 
mood,  but  calm  and  tranquil,  as  if  conscious  that  the  summer 
was  born.  The  day  was  not  too  warm,  for  the  clouds  that  were 
flying  over  the  sky  shielded  us  from  the  dii'ect  rays  of  the 
sun ;  yet  as  he  looked  out  now  and  then,  the  giant  trees  cast 
their  shadows  across  our  path.     An  American  poet  sings  : 

"  What  is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June  ?  " 

Surely  nothing  could  be  more  rare  or  fair ;  but  even  the 
sky  and  the  soft  Summer  air  seemed  more  fidl  of  exquisite 
sensations  to  the  strangers  who  were  that  day  rolling  along 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  under  the  mighty  cedars  of  the 
Tokaido. 

Once  more  I  was  surprised  and  delighted  at  the  agility  and 
swiftness  of  the  men  who  drew  o\xv  jin-riki-shas.  As  we  had 
but  twenty-three  miles  to  go  in  the  afternoon,  we  took  it 


SPEED   OF   THE   JLN-KIKI-SHA   MEN.  413 

easily,  and  gave  them  first  only  a  gentle  trot  of  five  niiles  to 
get  their  limbs  a  little  supple,  and  then  stopped  for  tiffin. 
Some  of  the  men  had  on  a  loose  jacket  when  we  started,  be- 
sides the  girdle  about  the  loins.  This  they  took  off  and 
wrung  out,  for  they  were  dripping  with  sweat,  and  v/iped 
their  brawny  chests  and  limbs,  and  then  took  their  chopsticks 
and  appKed  themselves  to  their  rice,  while  we  "went  upstairs 
in  the  tea-house,  and  had  our  soup  and  other  dishes  served 
to  us,  sitting  on  the  floor  like  Turks,  and  then  stretched  our- 
selves on  the  mats,  weary  with  our  morning's  walk,  and  even 
with  the  motion  of  riding.  While  we  were  trying  to  get  a 
little  rest  our  men  talked  and  laughed  in  the  court  below  as 
if  it  were  child's  play  to  take  us  over  the  road.  As  we  re- 
sumed our  places  and  turned  out  of  the  yard,  I  had  the  curi- 
osity to  "  time  "  their  speed,  I  had  a  couple  of  athletic  fel- 
lows, who  thought  me  a  mere  feather  in  weight,  and  made 
me  spin  like  a  top  as  they  bowled  along.  They  started  off  at 
an  easy  trot,  which  they  kept  up,  without  breaking,  mile 
after  mile.  I  did  not  need  to  crack  the  whip,  but  at  the 
word,  away  they  flew  through  villages  and  over  the  open 
country,  never  stopping,  but  when  they  came  to  slightly  ris- 
ing gi'ound,  riishiug  up  like  mettlesome  horses,  and  down  at 
full  speed.  Thus  they  kept  on,  and  never  drew  rein  till  they 
came  to  the  bank  of  a  river,  which  had  to  be  crossed  in  a 
boat.  I  took  out  my  watch.  It  was  an  hour  and  a  quarter, 
and  they  had  come  seven  miles  and  a  half !  This  was  doing 
pretty  well.  Of  course  they  could  not  keep  this  up  all  day ; 
yet  they  will  go  thirty  miles  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  and  even 
forty,  if  spurred  to  it  by  a  little  extra  pay.  Sometimes,  in- 
deed, they  go  even  at  a  still  greater  speed  for  a  short  distance. 
The  first  evening,  as  we  came  into  Fujisawa,  I  do  not  doubt 
that  the  last  fifteen  minutes  they  were  going  at  a  speed  of  ten 
miles  an  hour,  for  they  came  in  on  a  run.  This  is  magnifi- 
cent, but  I  cannot  think  it  very  healthful  exercise.  As  gym- 
nasts and  prize-fighters  grow  old  and  die  before  their  time, 


414  ENOSHIMA. 

SO  with  these  human  racehorses.  Dr.  Hepburn  says  it  ex- 
hausts them  very  early  ;  that  they  break  clown  with  disease 
'  of  the  heart  or  lungs.  They  are  very  liable  to  rheumatism. 
This  is  partly  owing  to  their  carelessness.  They  get  heated, 
and  then  expose  their  naked  bodies  to  drafts  of  cold  air, 
which  of  course  stiffens  their  limbs,  so  that  an  old  runner  be- 
comes like  a  foundered  horse.  But  even  with  all  care,  the 
fatigue  is  very  exhausting,  and  often  brings  on  diseases  which 
take  them  off  in  their  prime.  Yet  you  cannot  restrain  their 
speed,  any  more  than  that  of  colts  that  have  never  been  bro- 
ken. I  often  tried  to  check  them,  but  they  "champed  at  the 
bit,"  and  after  a  few  vain  remonstrances  I  had  to  give  it  up, 
and  "  let  them  slide." 

We  did  not  stop  at  Fujisawa,  where  we  had  slept  before, 
for  it  is  a  large  and  noisy  town,  but  pushed  on  three  miles 
farther,  across  a  sandy  beach  to  Enoshima,  a  little  fishing 
village,  which  stands  on  a  point  of  land  jutting  out  into  the 
sea,  so  that  at  high  tide  it  is  an  island,  and  at  low  tide  a 
peninsula.  Indeed,  it  is  not  much  more  than  a  projecting 
rock  of  a  few  hundred  acres,  rising  high  out  of  the  waters, 
and  covered  thickly  with  groves  of  trees,  among  which  are 
several  Buddhist  temples.  As  we  strolled  along  the  top  of 
the  cliflfs  at  sunset,  there  were  a  dozen  points  of  view  where 
we  could  sit  under  the  shade  of  trees  a  hundred  feet  above 
the  waves,  as  on  the  cliffs  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  saying  with 
Tennyson : 

"Break,  break,  break, 
At  the  foot  of  thy  crags,  O  Sea  ! " 

The  next  morning  we  rambled  over  the  hills  again,  for  it 
was  a  spot  where  one  could  but  linger.  The  bay  was  alive 
with  boats,  as 

"  The  fishers  went  sailing  out  into  the  West." 
On  the  shore  were  divers,  who  plunged  from  the  rocks  into 


SECOND    VISIT   TO   YEDO.  415 

deep  water,  to  bring  up  shells  and  coral  for  us,  and  a  sort  of 
sponge  peculiar  to  this  country,  with  spicules  like  threads 
of  spun  glass.  Under  the  cliff  is  a  long  cave,  hollowed  out  by 
the  waves,  with  an  arch  overhead  like  a  vaulted  roof.  Thus 
under  gi-ound  or  above  ground  we  wandered  hour  after  hour. 

But  all  things  pleasant  must  have  an  end.  The  week  was 
gone ;  it  was  Saturday  noon :  and  so  reluctantly  leaving 
both  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  and  taking  to  our  chariots 
once  more,  we  stnick  into  the  Tokaido,  and  in  four  hours 
were  rolling  along  the  Bund  at  Yokohama. 

Three  days  after  we  made  a  second  visit  to  Yedo,  to  visit 
an  American  gentleman  who  held  a  })Osition  in  the  Foreign 
Office,  and  spent  a  night  at  his  pretty  Japanese  house  in  the 
Government  gi-ounds.  Here  being,  as  it  were,  in  the  interior 
of  the  State  Department,  we  got  some  European  news ; 
amonw  which  was  the  startling  intelligence  of  a  revolution  in 
Turkey,  and  that  Abdul  Aziz  had  been  deposed ! 

In  our  second  excursion  about  the  city,  as  we  had  long 
distances  to  traverse,  we  took  two  prancing  bucks  to  each 
jinrikisha,  who  ran  us  such  a  rig  through  the  streets  of  Yedo 
as  made  us  think  of  John  Gilpin  when  he  rode  to  London 
town.  The  fellows  were  like  wild  colts,  so  full  of  life  that 
they  had  to  kick  it  off  at  the  heels.  Sometimes  one  pulled 
in  front  while  the  other  pushed  behind,  but  more  often  they 
went  tandem,  the  one  in  advance  drawing  by  a  cord  over  his 
shoulder.  The  leader  was  so  full  of  spring  that  he  fairly 
bounded  over  the  ground,  and  if  we  came  to  a  little  elevation, 
or  arched  bridge,  he  sprang  into  the  air  like  a  catamount, 
while  his  fellow  behind,  though  a  little  more  stiff,  as  a  "  wheel 
horse  "  ought  to  be,  bore  himself  proudly,  tossing  up  his  head, 
and  throwing  out  his  chest,  and  never  lagged  for  an  instant. 

C was  delighted,  nothing  could  go  too  fast  for  her ;  but 

whether  it  was  fear  for  my  character  or  for  my  head,  I  had 
serious  apprehension  that  I  should  be  "  smashed  "  like  Chi- 
nese crockery,  and  poked  my  steeds  in  the  rear  with  my  urn- 


4:16  SCENE   IN   YEDO   AT   NIGHT. 

brella  to  signify  that  I  was  entirely  satisfied  with  their  per- 
formances, and  that  they  need  not  go  any  faster  ! 

While  in  Yedo  we  attended  a  meeting  of  missionaries, 
English,  Scotch,  and  American,  in  a  distant  part  of  the  city, 
and  in  the  evening  paid  a  visit  to  Prof.  Verbeck,  who  has 
been  here  so  long  that  he  is  an  authority  on  all  Japanese 
matters.  It  was  eight  o'clock  when  we  set  out  to  return  to 
our  friends  in  the  Foreign  Ofiice,  and  we  bade  our  men  take 
us  through  the  main  streets,  that  we  might  have  a  view  of 
Yedo  by  night.  The  distance  was  some  three  miles,  the 
greater  part  through  the  principal  street.  It  was  near  the 
time  of  the  full  moon,  but  foi-tunately  she  was  hidden  to- 
night by  clouds,  for  even  her  soft  radiance  could  not  give 
such  animation  and  picturesqueness  to  the  scene  as  the  lights 
of  the  city  itself.  The  broad  street  for  two  miles  was  in  a 
flare  of  gas-light,  like  one  of  the  great  streets  of  Paris.  The 
shops  were  open  and  lighted  ;  added  to  which  were  hundreds 
(perhaps  thousands)  of  jin-rihi-shas^  each  with  its  Chinese 
lantern,  glancing  two  and  fro,  like  so  many  fireflies  on  a  sum- 
mer night,  making  a  scene  such  as  one  reads  of  in  the  Ara- 
bian Nights,  but  as  I  had  never  witnessed  before. 

But  that  which  is  of  most  interest  to  a  stranger  in  Japan, 
is  not  Yedo  or  Fusiyama,  but  the  sudden  revolution  which 
has  taken  place  in  its  relations  with  other  countries,  and  in 
its  internal  condition.  This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
events  in  history,  which,  in  a  few  years,  has  changed  a  whole 
nation,  so  that  from  being  the  most  isolated,  the  most  exclu- 
sive, and  the  most  rigidly  cojiservati  ve,  even  in  Asia,  it  has 
become  the  most  active  and  enterprising  ;  the  most  open  to 
foreign  influences ;  the  most  hospitable  to  foreign  ideas,  and  the 
most  ready  to  introduce  foreign  improvements.  This  change 
has  taken  Japan  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  non-progressive 
nations,  to  place  it,  if  not  in  the  van  of  modern  improve- 
ment, at  least  not  very  far  in  the  rear.  It  has  taken  it  owt 
of  the  stagnant  life  of  Asia,  to  infuse  into  its  veins  the  Kfe 


JAPAN   OPENED   BY   AMEKICA.  417 

of  Europe  and  America.  In  a  word,  it  has,  as  it  were,  un- 
moored Japan  from  the  coast  of  Asia,  and  towed  it  across  the 
Pacific,  to  place  it  alongside  of  the  New  World,  to  have  the 
same  course  of  life  and  progress. 

It  is  a  singular  fact,  which,  as  it  has  united  our  two 
nations  in  the  past,  ought  to  unite  us  in  the  future,  that  the 
opening  of  Japan  came  from  America.  It  would  have  come 
in  time  from  the  natural  growth  of  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  but  the  immediate  occasion  was  the  settlement  of 
California.  The  first  emigration,  consequent  on  the  discoveiy 
of  gold,  was  in  1849 ;  the  treaty  with  Japan  in  1854.  As  soon 
as  there  sprang  up  an  American  Empire  on  our  Western  coast, 
there  sprang  up  also  an  American  commerce  on  the  Pacific. 
Up  to  that  time,  except  the  whalers  from  New  Bedford  that 
went  round  Cape  Horn,  to  cast  their  harpoons  in  the  North 
Pacific,  or  an  occasional  vessel  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  or  that 
brought  a  cargo  of  tea  from  China,  there  were  few  American 
ships  in  the  Pacific.  But  now  it  was  ploughed  by  fleets  of 
ships,  and  by  great  lines  of  steamers.  The  Western  coast  of 
America  faced  the  Eastern  coast  of  Asia,  and  there  must  be  com- 
merce between  them.  Japan  lay  in  the  path  to  China,  and  it 
was  inevitable  that  there  must  be  peaceful  intercourse,  or 
there  would  be  armed  collision.  The  time  had  come  when  the 
policy  of  rigid  exclusion  could  not  be  permitted  any  longer. 
Of  course  Japan  had  the  right  which  belongs  to  any  inde- 
pendent power,  to  regulate  its  commerce  with  foreign  nations. 
But  there  were  cei-tain  rights  which  belonged  to  all  nations, 
and  which  might  be  claimed  in  tke  interest  of  humanity.  If 
an  American  ship,  in  crossing  the  Pacific  on  its  way  to  China, 
were  shipwrecked  on  the  shores  of  Japan,  the  sailors  who 
escaped  the  perils  of  the  sea  had  the  right  to  food  and  shel- 
ter— not  to  be  regarded  as  trespassers  or  held  as  prisoners. 
Yet  there  had  been  instances  in  which  such  crews  had  been 
treated  as  captives,  and  shut  up  in  prison.  In  one  instance 
they  were  exhibited  in  cages.  If  they  had  fallen  among 
18* 


418  PEACEFUL   INTERCOURSE. 

Barbary  pirates,  they  could  not  have  been  treated  with 
greater  severity.  This  state  of  things  must  come  to  an  end ; 
and  in  gently  forcing  the  issue,  our  goverument  led  the  way. 
As  English  ships  had  broken  down  the  wall  of  China,  so  did 
an  American  Heet  open  the  door  of  Japan,  simply  by  an  atti- 
tude of  firmness  and  justice;  by  demanding  nothing  but 
what  was  right,  and  supporting  it  by  an  imposing  display  of 
force.  Thus  Japan  was  opened  to  the  commerce  of  America, 
and  through  it  of  the  world,  without  shedding  a  drop  of 
blood. 

The  result  has  been  almost  beyond  belief.  A  quarter  of 
a  century  ago  no  foreign  ship  could  anchor  in  these  waters. 
And  now  here,  in  sight  of  the  spot  where  lay  the  fleet 
of  Commodore  Perry,  I  see  a  harbor  full  of  foreign  ships. 
It  struck  me  strangely,  as  I  sat  at  our  windows  in  the 
Grand  Hotel,  and  looked  out  upon  the  tranquil  bay.  There 
lay  the  Tennessee,  not  with  guns  run  out  and  matches 
lighted,  but  in  her  peaceful  dress,  with  flags  flying,  not  only 
from  her  mast-head,  but  from  all  her  yards  and  rigging. 
There  were  also  several  English  ships  of  war,  with  Admiral 
Ryder  in  command,  from  whose  flag-ship,  as  from  the  Ten- 
nessee, we  heard  the  morning  and  evening  gun,  and  the  bands 
playing.  The  scene  was  most  beautiful  by  moonlight,  when 
the  ships  lay  motionless,  and  the  'tall  masts  cast  their  shad- 
ows on  the  water,  and  all  was  silent,  as  in  so  many  sleeping 
camps,  save  the  bells  which  struck  the  hours,  and  marked  the 
successive  watches  all  night  long.  It  seemed  as  if  the  angel 
of  peace  rested  on  the  moonlit  waters,  and  that  nations 
would  not  learn  war  any  more. 

The  barrier  once  broken  down,  foreign  commerce  began  to 
enter  the  waters  of  Japan.  American  ships  appeared  at  the 
open  ports.  As  if  to  giv^them  welcome,  lighthouses  were  built 
at  exposed  points  on  the  coast,  so  that  they  might  approach 
without  danger.  A  foreign  settlement  sprung  up  at  Yoko- 
hama.    By  and  by  young  men  went  abroad  to  see  the  world, 


INTEENAL   EEVOLUTION.  419 

or  to  be  educated  in  Europe  or  America,  and  came  back  with 
reports  of  the  wealth  and  power  of  foreign  nations.  Soon  a 
spirit  of  imitation  took  possession  of  Young  Japan.  These 
students  affected  even  the  fashions  of  foreign  countries,  and 
appeared  in  the  streets  of  Yedo  in  coat  and  pantaloons,  instead 
of  the  old  Japanese  dress ;  and  ate  no  longer  with  chopsticks, 
but  with  knives  and  forks.  Thus  manners  and  customs  changed, 
to  be  followed  by  a  change  in  laws  and  in  the  government 
itself.  Till  now  Jajjan  had  had  a  double-headed  government, 
with  two  sovereigns  and  two  capitals.  But  now  there  was  a 
revolution  in  the  country,  the  Tycoon  was  overthrown,  and 
the  Mikado,  laying  aside  his  seclusion  and  his  invisibility, 
came  fi'om  Kioto  to  Yedo,  and  assumed  the  temporal  power, 
and  showed  himself  to  his  people.  The  feudal  system  was 
abolished,  and  the  proud  daimios — who,  with  their  clans  of 
armed  retainers,  the  samourai,  or  two-sworded  men,  were 
independent  princes — were  stripped  of  their  estates,  which 
sometimes  were  as  large  as  German  principalities,  and  forced 
to  disband  their  retainers,  and  reduced  to  the  place  of  pen- 
sioners of  the  government.  The  army  and  navy  were  recon- 
structed on  European  models.  Instead  of  the  old  Japanese 
war-junks,  well-armed  frigates  were  seen  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo 
— a  force  which  has  enabled  Japan  to  take  a  very  decided 
tone  in  dealing  with  China,  in  the  matter  of  the  island  of  For- 
mosa ;  and  made  its  power  respected  along  the  coast  of  East- 
em  Asia.  We  saw  an  embassy  from  Corea  passing  through 
the  streets  of  Yokohama,  on  its  way  to  Yedo,  to  pay  homage 
to  the  Mikado,  and  enter  into  peaceful  relations  with  Japan. 
A  new  postal  system  has  been  introduced,  modelled  on  our 
own.  In  Yokohama  one  sees  over  a  large  building  the  sign 
"  The  Japanese  Imperial  Post-Office,"  and  the  postman  goes 
his  rounds,  delivering  his  letters  and  papers  as  in  England 
and  America.  There  is  no  opposition  to  the  construction  of 
railroads,  as  in  China.  Steamers  ply  around  the  coast  and 
through  the  Inland  Sea;  and  telegraphs  extend  from  one  end 


420  JAPAN   OUK   NEAREST   NEIGHBOR. 

of  the  Empire  to  the  other;  and  crossing  the  sea,  connect 
Japan  with  the  coast  of  Asia,  and  with  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Better  than  all,  the  government  has  adopted  a  general  system 
~of  national  education,  at  the  head  of  which  is  our  own  Prof. 
Murray ;  it  has  established  schools  and  colleges,  and  intro- 
duced teachers  from  Europe  and  America.  In  Yedo  I  was 
taken  by  Prof.  McCartee  to  see  a  large  and  noble  institution 
for  the  education  of  girls,  established  under  the  patronage  of 
the  Empress.  These  are  signs  of  progress  that  cannot  be 
paralleled  in  any  other  nation  in  the  world. 

With  such  an  advance  in  less  than  one  generation,  what 
may  we  not  hope  in  the  generation  to  come  ?  In  her  efforts 
at  progress,  Japan  deserves  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the 
whole  civilized  world.  Having  responded  to  the  demand  for 
commercial  intercourse,  she  has  a' just  claim  to  be  placed  on 
the  footing  of  the  most  favored  nations.  Especially  is  she 
entitled  to  expect  friendship  from  our  countiy.  As  it  fell  to 
America  to  be  the  instrument  of  opening  Japan,  it  ought  to 
be  our  pride  to  show  her  that  the  new  path  into  which  we 
led  her,  is  a  path  of  peace  and  prosperity.  Japan  is  our  near- 
est neighbor  on  the  west,  as  Ireland  is  on  the  east ;  and  among 
nations,  as  among  individuals,  neighbors  otight  to  be  friends. 
It  seemed  a  good  token  that  the  American  Union  Church  in 
Yokohama  should  stand  on  the  very  spot  where  Commodore 
Perry  made  his  treaty  with  Japan — the  beginning,  let  us  hope, 
of  immeasurable  good  to  both  nations.  As  India  is  a  part  of 
the  British  Empire,  and  may  look  to  England  to  secure  for 
her  the  benefits  of  modern  civilization,  so  the  duty  of  stretch- 
ing out  a  hand  across  the  seas  to  Japan,  may  fairly  be  laid  on 
the  American  church  and  the  American  people. 

Our  visit  was  coming  to  an  end.  A  day  or  two  we  spent 
in  the  shops,  buying  photographs  and  bi'onzes,  and  in  paying 
farewell  visits  to  the  missionaries,  who  had  shown  us  so  much 
kindness.  The  "  parting  cup  "  of  tea  we  took  at  Dr.  Hep- 
burn's, and  from  his  windows  had  a  full  view  of  Fusiyama,  that 


CR088INQ   THE   PACIFIC.  421 

looked  out  upon  us  once  more  in  all  his  glory.  We  were  to 
embark  that  evening,  to  sail  at  daylight.  Mr.  John  Ballagh 
and  several  ladies  of  "  The  Home,"  who  had  made  us 
welcome  in  their  pleasant  circle,  "accompanied  us  to  the 
ship."  We  had  a  long  row  across  the  bay  just  as  the  moon 
was  rising,  covering  the  waters  with  silver,  and  making  the 
great  ships  look  like  mighty  shadows  as  they  stood  up 
against  the  sky.  "  On  such  a  night "  we  took  our  farewell 
of  A  sia. 

The  next  morning  very  early  we  were  sailing  down  the  bay 
of  Yedo,  and  were  soon  out  on  the  Pacific.  But  the  coast 
remained  long  in  sight,  and  we  sat  on  deck  watching  the 
receding  shores  of  a  country  which  in  three  weeks  had 
become  so  familiar  and  so  dear ;  and  when  at  last  it  sunk 
beneath  the  waters,  we  left  our  "  benediction  "  on  that  beau- 
tiful island  set  in  the  Northern  Seas. 

We  did  not  steer  straight  for  San  Francisco,  although  it  is 
in  nearly  the  same  latitude  as  Yokohama,  but  turned  north, 
following  what  navigators  call  a  Great  Circle,  on  the  princi- 
ple that  as  they  get  high  up  on  the  globe,  the  degrees  of 
longitude  are  shorter,  and  thus  they  can  '*  cut  across  "  at  the 
high  latitudes.  "  It  is  nearer  to  go  around  the  hill  than  to 
go  over  it."  We  took  a  prodigious  sweep,  following  the  Kuro- 
shiwoy  or  Black  Current,  the  Gulf  Stream  of  the  Pacific,  which 
flows  up  the  coast  of  Asia,  and  down  the  coast  of  America. 
We  bore  away  to  the  north  till  we  were  ofi"  the  coast  of  Kam- 
schatka,  and  within  a  day's  sail  of  Petropaulovski,  before  we 
turned  East.  Our  ship  was  "  The  Oceanic,"  of  the  famous 
White  Star  line,  which,  if  not  so  magnificent  as  "  The  City" 
of  Peking,"  was  quite  as  swift  a  sailer,  cleaving  the  waters 
like  a  sea-bird.  In  truth,  the  albatrosses  that  came  about 
the  ship  for  days  from  the  Aleutian  Islands,  now  soaring  in 
air,  and  now  skimming  the  waters,  did  not  float  along  more 
easily  or  more  gracefully. 

As  we  crossed  the  180th  degree  of  longitude,  just  half  the 


422  GAINING   A   DAY. 

way  around  the  world  from  the  Royal  Observatory  at  Green- 
wich, we  "  gained  a  day,"  or  rather,  recovered  one  that  we 
had  lost.  As  we  had  started  eastward,  we  lost  a  few  minutes 
each  day,  and  had  to  set  our  watches  every  noon.  We  were 
constantly  changing  our  meridian,  so  that  no  day  ended 
where  it  began,  and  we  never  had  a  day  of  full  twenty- 
four  hours,  but  always  a  few  minutes,  like  sands,  had 
crumbled  away.  By  the  time  we  reached  England,  five 
hours  had  thus  dropped  into  the  sea ;  and  when  we  had  com- 
passed the  globe,  we  had  parted,  inch  by  inch,  moment  by 
moment,  with  a  whole  day.  It  seemed  as  if  this  were  so 
much  blotted  out  from  the  sum  of  our  being — gone  in  the 
vast  and  wandering  air — lost  in  the  eternities,  from  which 
nothing  is  ever  recovei-ed.  Bxit  these  lost  moments  and 
hours  were  all  gathered  up  in  the  chambers  of  the  East,  and 
now  in  mid-ocean,  one  morning  brought  us  a  day  not  in  the 
calendar,  to  be  added  to  the  full  year.  Two  days  bore  the 
same  date,  the  18th  of  June,  and  as  this  fell  on  a  Sunday, 
two  holy  days  came  together — one  the  Sabbath  of  Asia, 
the  other  of  America.  It  seemed  fit  that  this  added  day 
should  be  a  sacred  one,  for  it  was  something  taken,  as  it 
were,  from  another  portion  of  time  to  be  added  to  our  lives 
— a  day  which  came  to  us  fresh  from  its  ocean  baptism,  with 
not  a  tear  of  sorrow  or  a  thought  of  sin  to  stain  its  purity  ; 
and  we  kept  a  double  Sabbath  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

Seventeen  days  on  the  Pacific,  with  nothing  to  break  the 
boundless  monotony !  In  all  that  breadth  of  ocean  which 
separates  Asia  and  America,  we  saw  not  a  single  sail  on  the 
horizon ;  and  no  land,  not  even  an  island,  till  we  came  in 
sight  of  those  shores  which  are  dearer  to  us  than  any  other 
in  all  the  rovind  world. 

Here,  in  sight  of  land,  this  stoiy  ends.  There  is  no  need 
to  tell  of  ci'ossing  the  continent,  which  completed  our  circuit 
of  the  globe,  but  only  to  add  in  a  word  the  lesson  and  the 
moral  of  this  long  journey.     Going  around  the  world  is  an 


GOING   BOUND   THE   WOULD   AN   EDUCATION.  423 

education.  It  is  not  a  mere  pastime ;  it  is  often  a  great 
fatigue ;  but  it  is  a  means  of  gaining  knowledge  which  can 
only  be  obtained  by  observation.  Charles  V.  used  to  say 
that  "  the  more  languages  a  man  knew,  he  was  so  many  more 
times  a  man."  Each  new  form  of  human  speech  introduced 
him  into  a  new  world  of  thought  and  life.  So  in  some  degree 
is  it  in  traversing  other  continents,  and  mingling  with  other 
races.  However  great  America  may  be,  it  is  "  something  " 
to  add  to  it  a  knowledge  of  Europe  and  Asia.  Unless  one  be 
encased  in  pride,  or  given  over  to  "  invincible  ignorance,"  it 
will  teach  him  modesty.  He  will  boast  less  of  his  own  coun- 
try, though  perhaps  he  will  love  it  more.  He  will  see  the 
greatness  of  other  nations,  and  the  virtues  of  other  people. 
Even  the  turbaned  Orientals  may  teach  us  a  lesson  in  dignity 
and  courtesy — a  lesson  of  repose,  the  want  of  which  is  a  de- 
fect in  our  national  character.  In  every  race  there  is  some- 
thing good — some  touch  of  gentleness  that  makes  the  whole 
world  kin.  Those  that  are  most  strange  and  far  from  us, 
as  we  approach  them,  show  qualities  that  win  our  love  and 
command  our  respect. 

In  all  these  wanderings,  I  haA'e  met  no  rudeness  in  word 
or  act  from  Turks  or  Arabs,  Hindoos  or  Malays,  Chinese 
or  Japanese ;  but  have  often  received  kindness  from  strangers. 
The  one  law  that  obtains  in  all  nations  is  the  law  of  kindness. 
Have  I  not  a  right  to  say  that  to  know  men  is  to  love  them, 
not  to  hate  them  nor  despise  them? 

He  who  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  to  dwell 
on  the  earth,  hath  not  forgotten  any  of  His  children.  There 
is  a  beauty  in  every  country  and  in  every  clime.  Each  zone 
of  the  earth  is  belted  with  its  peculiar  vegetation  ;  and  there 
is  a  beauty  alike  in  the  pines  on  Norwegian  hills,  and  the 
palms  on  African  deserts.  So  with  the  diversities  of  the 
human  race.  Man  inhabits  all  climes,  and  though  he  changes 
color  with  the  sun,  and  has  many  vaiieties  of  form  and  fea- 
ture, yet  the  race  is  the  same ;  all  have  the  same  attributes 


424  KNOWLEDGE   TEACHES    CHARITY. 

of  humanity,  and  under  a  white  or  black  skin  beats  the  same 
human  heart.  In  writing  of  peoples  far  remote,  my  wish 
has  been  to  bi-ing  them  nearer,  and  to  bind  them  to  us  by 
closer  bonds  of  sympathy.  If  these  i)ictures  of  Asia  make 
it  a  little  more  real,  and  inspire  the  feeling  of  a  common 
nature  with  the  dusky  races  that  live  on  the  other  side  of  the 
globe,  and  so  infuse  a  larger  knowledge  and  a  gentler  charity, 
then  a  traveller's  tale  may  serve  as  a  kind  of  lay  sermon, 
teaching  peace  and  good  will  to  men. 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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Series  9482 


